The Social Grace of Tindering
by bittybitt39
Summary: Fairy Tail AU- Lucy Heartfilia was finally convinced by her college housemates to get a Tinder since the last time she had a boy over was… never. Struck by the awkwardness and stupidity that some of these boys show, she finally seems to find a match that just might work. (NaLu, Gruvia, Jerza, Gale, and more) Rated M for a reason.
1. Chapter 1: Finally Convinced

First official Fairy Tail fanfiction! Please give me some reviews as I am new to this whole thing ~  
I will appreciate any feed back regarding to the story!  
I do not own any of the characters being used- all rights go to amazing author and creator of Fairy Tail- Mashi !

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 **The Social Grace of Tindering**

 **A College Fairy Tail AU**

 **Chapter 1:** Finally Convinced

Lucy looked up from her English paper and stared at her housemate for a solid minute before a blank expression took over her face. Did she just hear that correctly?

Levy McGarden, her quiet, timid and adorably sweet best friend, had a date with a guy, whom she had never met before in person, this Friday? What was this world coming to these days? Making plans with boys you had never met before, but had 'chatted' with and seen pictures of on a stupid App you can download for your phone- it all sounded so stupid.

Not to mention impersonal and awkward.

Lucy sighed to herself and saved her paper. She would get back to this later. As of right now, she had to knock some sense into her housemate's suddenly brainless head.

"Levy, what in the world is going on? You just started 'talking to' this guy last week on this stupid App and now you are going out on a date with him?" Lucy shook her head and looked back up at her. "What if he's totally catfishing you and is actually an eighty year old man looking to get one last fix before he bites the dust?"

Levy's cheeks instantly heated up again at Lucy's statement and she looks down at her clenched hands on her knees. Maybe Lucy had a point… maybe she shouldn't be doing this. But Gajeel seemed so nice and different on the App. Plus they already exchanged numbers and snapchats so she has seen him before. At least she was hoping it was him.

"I know Lu-chan but…" Levy started but was interrupted at that moment by their other housemate, Erza Scarlet, walking into the room being followed by her boyfriend (and basically their fifth housemate) Jellal Fernandez. Both of them finally returning from their late night coffee run for the household before the homework session began.

"What is this tense atmosphere I feel?" Erza asked, handing Lucy her coffee and taking a seat on the couch next to Levy. Erza could always feel when things got weird in the house- it was like another sense for her.

Levy seemed to instantly flush again, her cheeks gaining that trademark pink tint once again as she looked down at her lap. "I-I have a date on Friday, with that guy I have been telling you guys about. You know, Gajeel?"

Erza's face suddenly gained that triumphant look she always gets like she had just won the fencing tournament, or received a huge award. She faced Levy instantly, a sparkle in her eyes as she took her hands.

"What is this about you going on a date? When are we meeting him? Are you going to be bringing him home afterwards? What are you going to wear?" Erza continued her questioning, overwhelming Levy as she tried to get Erza to calm down. Lucy just laughed lightly and sat back down in her chair. Leave it to Erza to cut the tension in the room.

"Er-Erza! Give me a chance to answer before asking another question! This is all too much!" At this point, Levy's face was unbelievably red. Almost as red as the hair on top of Erza's head. She snapped her head to behind the couch where Jellal was standing, hearing him chuckle. Levy pouted, giving him a look screaming, 'Help me!' before he finally placed his hands on Erza's shoulders and squeezing gently.

"Erza, don't you think you might be a little too aggressive about all this? It's only the first date." He turned to give Levy a gentle smile. "How did you meet Gajeel again? I thought you were always too busy with school or working to be socializing. Unless of course you met him at the library?"

Levy, thankful for Jellal finally calming down Erza, smiled up at him. "Actually, I haven't really met him yet. I met him throu-" She was suddenly cut off by Lucy slamming her computer shut and looking a little more than upset.

"She met him through that stupid App everyone seems to be using these days to get into each other's pants. What's it called again? Grinder?" Lucy shook her head and leaned back in her chair, but sat back up when a laugh filled the room.

Their fourth housemate finally stumbled into the room a bottle of beer in her hand as she leaned against the doorframe. Cana Alberona laughed loudly as she wiped at her eyes, tears threatening to spill over from her laughter.

"You definitely don't mean Grinder, Lucy. Unless Levy was mistaken for a gay man who's looking to get a nice buttfuck sometime soon." She laughed hoarsely seeing both Levy and Lucy's faces get bright red. Her favorite reaction though was when Erza sat back, her hand on her chin and seemed to be thinking this through thoroughly.

After finally calming down, Cana grinned. "You totally meant Tinder. Tinder is a great site Lucy! You should try it out. I bet your first real man is out there just waiting to match with his next big-tit blonde." Seeing her face flame up again, Cana laughed and sat down on the armrest of the couch.

"It's great for messing around with people too. I strictly go on it just so I can mess with guy's heads. But it's also great for getting me into parties around campus. You can never have too many connections." She chugged the rest of her beer, standing up and stretching her arms over her head. "I'll be back. I'm going to go make a booze run. Any of you loves care to join me?"

Lucy sat there, a bright flush still across her cheeks but she stood up anyway. "Yeah, let me go put on my shoes at least. I can't think about my paper right now anyway."

She walked up the stairs and to the right, walking into her room and quickly slipping on her gym shoes, grabbing a coat as well. It was really starting to get chilly out. Fall seemed to be just around the corner, but Lucy was more than excited for that. Fall was indeed one of the best times to be on campus.

She went to the Magnolia University, which was a fairly large college found within a small town that was literally surrounded on all sides by cornfields. It was a home away from home. Lucy and her other housemates were all juniors in college- each with their varying degrees. Lucy was studying manufacturing and management engineering, with a minor in creative writing. It was always her dream to become a big time writer one day, but her father wanted her to take over the Heartfilia family business and run his railway business when it was finally time for him to retire.

Levy was double majoring in childhood education and Bilingual studies, hoping to become a teacher for grade school children in one of the many languages she knew. Levy was too bright of a student- she knew how to speak English, Spanish, Latin, French and even Japanese. She not only had her schoolwork cut out for her throughout the semester, but also worked at the library. Her favorite pastime was indeed reading- any book she could get her hands on was read within a week.

Erza was a dedicated student to both her major and her athletic life. She was studying to become a physical therapist with a minor in sports management. She also was an athlete on the fencing team here and apart of the swords club. The woman definitely knew her weapons and everything about the medieval times. She could be quite intimidating.

Jellal on the other hand was quite the catch for Erza. He was just studying something in engineering like herself. Lucy could never remember just which one it was. Chemical? Mechanical? One of those probably. Jellal was a bright student and had a good head on his shoulders- something she was thankful for when Erza was in one of her moods.

Cana, now she was an interesting case. Her father owned a huge brewery and alcohol manufacturing company back in hometown. She knew Cana was destined to work alongside him as they both were big fans of the delicacy that is alcohol. Cana was studying business management but her main classes revolved around wine and beer tasting. Who knew college offered these certain classes. Lucy was pretty sure it was just because they knew how to please some students.

After finally walking downstairs, she and Cana set out for the gas station that was right up the street from their adorable house. Every student rented house had a name that was to be displayed on the front of the house. Their house was named Fairy Hills with a black silhouette of a fairy holding her two 'hills' which were conveniently her boobs. All Cana's idea since she seemed to be deeply attached to her breasts (as well as Lucy's and Erza's… poor Levy). It was a great house name though. Made a statement on their street since they did live on Fairy Avenue.

Finally arriving to the store, Lucy walked in to grab a bag of candy and a bottle of wine, knowing she was going to be up late again to finish this paper. Making her way over to the counter, she sweat dropped seeing the amount of beer and liquor Cana was buying. Leave it to her to buy all this alcohol on a Sunday night.

After finally paying for all of their items, they made the trek back to their house, talking causally about their current class schedule and their plans for the weekend already.

Cana, thinking about their class schedule stopped and pointed at Lucy, "You know, we are supposed to get our new TA tomorrow for our chemistry class. Do you remember why he wasn't here for the first few weeks of classes? Aren't they normally students who are still taking classes but were asked to help the teacher to grade things?"

Lucy thought back to that and nodded. "Yeah, you are right. I forgot about that. Looks like we get to see a new face tomorrow."

"I hope he's hot." Cana blurted out of nowhere a few minutes later, causing Lucy to almost trip and fall over her own two feet.

"Cana! Seriously? Is that all you think about these days?" Lucy shook her head, smiling at her friend.

"Yep." As she popped the p extra loudly, "that and alcohol. The essentials in life." Cana grinned, walking into the front door that Lucy had just opened. "Alright, I am going to go drink myself into a drunken slumber. See you princesses tomorrow morning." Cana walked back towards her room- which was the only bedroom on the first floor seeing as she could never really make it up the stairs when she comes home drunk almost every night.

Lucy smiled and sat her stuff down on the table near her computer and began to type her creative writing prompt once again. The walk did her some good at least- cleared her head from the stupid Tinder episode before. She groaned as she opened her bottle of wine and began to furiously type her night away. So much for sleep.

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The next morning, Lucy woke up groggily to her alarm going off at eight am. Going to bed at three in the morning would have to stop when she had classes starting at eleven. She liked getting her eight hours of sleep. She sleepily turned off her alarm, going through her morning routine of brushing her teeth, showering, and dressing in something cute but comfy and finally putting on minimal makeup. She looked at herself in the mirror- fall clothing was finally back. Even though it was only mid-September, it was getting chilly out and the leaves were beginning to change colors. She was wearing a pair of black leggings with a simply long sleeved white shirt with a blue scar around her neck loosely tied. Her feet were covered in a pair of brown boots that folded over and showed off the cute blue design they had on the inside. She smiled to herself and with a nod grabbed her backpack and set off for her first class of the day- Chemistry.

Cana and her arrived ten minutes before the start of class, taking their seats towards the middle-front of the large lecture hall. Lucy didn't really mind chemistry, but it was a pain in the butt to study for and actually pay attention while in class. It was important to her major, since she had to take a major science course alongside her engineering major. Cana on the other hand had dropped this class multiple times before due to failing, but she still needed her science credit to graduate.

As the class finally settled in the professor, an older, extremely short man named Professor Makarov, seemed to be looking around for something or someone. Lucy was startled when suddenly the door to the front of the lecture hall opened up to an extremely handsome, young male who was grinning from ear to ear. Lucy couldn't help but stare at him as he walked to the front, talking to the professor like her was an old friend and taking his seat in the front of the class. Just who was this guy? She definitely hadn't seen him in here before.

The said boy was definitely Lucy's type. He was dressed extremely well but seemed to be comfortable in his outfit. Wearing a white collared shirt with black jeans and a white scaled looking scarf around his neck all contributed well to his other features. Tall, muscular (which you could totally see through his rolled up sleeves- just look at those ARMS!), dark olive eyes… but the thing that caught Lucy's attention the most was the color of his hair. Pink. Was it natural? Could it be? She shook her head smiling knowing it was stupid to get worked up over something like that. Besides, both Levy and Jellal's hair was naturally blue.

Professor Makarov smiled sweetly at the class and gathered the class' attention. "Hello again students. As you all know we have our TA finally appearing in class today. Natsu, why don't you introduce yourself?"

Lucy's eyes widened as they took in the pink haired boy standing up and going to the front of the class. "Hey thanks Gramps!" Prof. Makarov seemed to grumble something as the students laughed at his reaction to being called 'gramps' but he didn't correct Natsu. Just who was this guy to be so friendly towards the professor?

"As you all know, I was gone for the first few weeks of class due to a family matter, but I am here now." Natsu grinned and Lucy could feel all of the females within the class attention going straight towards him. She couldn't even look away. Feeling a nudge in her side, she looked over and saw Cana grinning from ear to ear- her eyebrows wiggling.

"See? What did I tell you! Totally hottie we got here for our TA. I'll be sure to visit study hours now." Lucy giggled lightly and let her eyes roam all over Natsu again. He was indeed adorably hot.

"If you need to contact me, here's my email and student hours. I'm a student just like all of you. I am studying bio-engineering and am also on the hockey team here. Hope to get to know each of you well." He smiled one last time and sat down.

Throughout the rest of the class Lucy stole glances at this strange boy who seemed to just grab her attention. She was starting to enjoy chemistry if this was the view she was going to receive each day.

The rest of her day went by in a blur. Lucy finally stepped into her own house, exhausted after her full day of school after only getting five hours of sleep. She collapsed on the couch and laid there for a few minutes before looking up and making eye contact with Levy who was on the chair in the corner of the room, typing away on her phone. Curiously, Lucy laid on her back and faced Levy.

"Typing a book now aren't we?" Lucy grinned as Levy laughed and nodded. "Who are you texting so furiously right now?" She up, intrigued when levy's face gained a slight blush.

"Well, Gajeel actually. He asked what we should do on Friday and I was telling him about all the things I like to do on a Friday night. He seemed generally interested." Levy smiled towards Lucy but let it drop when she saw her raise an eyebrow at her.

"I still don't understand this whole tinder thing." She waved her arms in front of her to express her point. "What do you do exactly that gets people to 'talk' to you or whatever?" She used her fingers to quote around the word talk and looked over at Levy.

Levy smiled, "Why don't you just get one and try it out for a week to see what it's like? I bet you won't think it's that stupid after you use it for a while. Come on, I'll even help you set it up!"

Lucy, giving a critical look towards her best friend sighed. What was the point in arguing? If she didn't like it, all she had to do was delete it anyway. It's not like people can heavily stalk her or something if she joins. "Fiiiine Levy. I'll do it."

Levy squealed as she jumped up from the chair and sat down next to her on the couch. "Alright! Download it off the App site and let's get started!"

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After looking through countless photos on her private Facebook page and a whole hour of convincing (more like threatening after Erza found out) her this was the right thing to do, Lucy had finally picked out her favorite pictures to use as her profile. Mostly her images contained her, Levy, Erza and Cana. One had the whole group of their friends and then one was actually a selfie she took. She still blushed at this. This was stupid wasn't it? But here she was about to learn how to actually use this dang site.

"Alright, so now go to the top right corner button, and give it some time to gain an idea where you are located. Then, once the first image of a guy appears, the red X is used to say no, you aren't interested- and the green button is basically a 'hell yes!' like button. But you can also click on their picture to see their profile. So go ahead and start Lu-chan!"

Lucy looked at the excited Levy and smiled. Looking down at her phone she was shocked to see a profile appear that had a burly looking man with a lot of piercings on his face. This was the first guy to appear? She heard Levy let out an 'eep' and turned to face her.

Levy's face a deep scarlet as she looked at Lucy's phone. "Oh um… th-that's Gajeel's profile."

Lucy's eyes widening she took another look and sure enough the name under his picture listed 'Gajeel'. She clicked on his image and saw his profile. His pictures were pretty entertaining. One was of him in an all-white suit with a fedora singing on a stage with a guitar. Another was with a black cat- could you really call that a cat!? It was as big as a panther!- one of him boxing and the last with a group of guys. Her eyes roamed over the image of the group and nodded in approval. He had some good looking friends.

Grinning to herself, she looked over at Levy, seeing her look at her phone over her shoulder. Lucy chuckled and suddenly swiped his image to the right, getting Levy to gasp at her for her action.

"Lu-chan! Why would you swipe right!? You know he and I are talking! You're so mean!" Levy pouted cutely and Lucy just laughed at her before poking her pouting cheek.

"Oh come on Levy, you know I could never steal him away from you. He is the first boy in forever to gain your attention. I couldn't do that to you." Levy instantly perked up at her statement and giggled.

"You're right Lu-chan. Sorry… I just get so flustered when it comes to him. I don't know what it is!" Levy whined sat with her arms crossed over her chest. "He picks on me constantly because he can tell in my pictures how short I am. But he's fun to talk to. I don't know, I really like him even though I haven't even met him yet." She looked over at Lucy to see her looking intensely at the next few profiles. She giggled watching her constantly swiping left to say no to multiple boys. Leave it to Lucy to turn out almost every guy who appears in front of her.

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Towards the end of the night, Lucy sighed to herself as she crawled into bed at a decent hour to get some sleep. She didn't have class until 2 the next day, but it was still a long day of three back to back classes, including her chemistry lab. She didn't know what she was expecting, but she really hoped that the TA would be a helper for the chemistry lab as well.

Turning over onto her other side, she pulled up her phone and saw she had a new notification for Tinder. Pulling up the App, she saw that she had a new match. Her first match on Tinder! She sat there suddenly, groaning at herself for getting excited over something as stupid as this. She was going to delete the App within a week anyway… there was no point to something like this.

Looking at her match, her eyes widened as she saw she was matched with Gajeel of all people and he had messaged her too! Getting angry that Gajeel would be doing this to Levy of all people she clicked on the message. Her eyes softened though when she saw he wrote, "You must be housemates with Shrimp." Shrimp obviously referring to Levy. She giggled. What a cute nickname for her! She replied a simple, 'yes I am before going back to her other selections of potential matches and her breath caught in her throat.

Could she be seeing things correctly? Or are her eyes playing tricks on her?

The next profile to appear was the pink haired TA from her chemistry class. She instantly clicked on his image to view the other pictures he had. One of him alone with his dressy class look was his first image much like what he wore to class today. The next she giggled at but also had a deep blush on her face as he and another equally handsome guy were shirtless and flexing. His scarf was tied around his head like a bandana, giving him a goofy but fitting look. The guy next to him was a dark haired guy with dark eyes, a cross chain necklace around his neck and a weird looking tattoo on his right peck. The next image took her breath away as he was bent down smiling at a young girl with black hair and cowboy hat on her head.

Seriously- could he be any cuter?!

The next image was of him with a younger girl, probably his younger sister, smiling sweetly at the camera. And the final one was of him and with an older man with dark red hair. The older gentleman had a kind but strong face, his hand on Natsu's shoulder as he was grinning at the camera. The older man having the exact same grin on his face- definitely father and son.

Lucy grinned to herself and read over his profile stating exactly what she already knew about him – his hair was indeed naturally pink, yes he wore that scarf everywhere, studying bio-chem and went to Magnolia University.

She quickly hesitated before swiping to the right. Her breath caught in her throat as she waited… and waited… and waited until finally groaning and tossing her phone onto her bedside table.

What was she thinking swiping him just like that? He's her TA. Is this even allowed?

She turned back over and closed her eyes. Her phone suddenly lighting up she bolted up and grabbed it- noticing it was a notification for Tinder. She opened up the App and her heart stopped when she noticed that she had a new match.

Easy to say she was looking forward to having this App on her phone for little while longer.

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And cue the ending of the first chapter! Please review! Would love to hear feedback on it so far :D


	2. Chapter 2: Looking on the Brighter Side

Here it is! Chapter 2!~  
I got so many follows and favorites just from the first chapter that I have to get the next one done.  
I am hoping to have the third chapter up by the end of this weekend. I just keep getting ideas!  
Please also review! Would love to hear feedback from you all! :D

mashi rights where needed

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 **Chapter 2: Looking on the Brighter Side**

Early in the morning on Tuesday as the sun was rising over the hills that surrounded Magnolia University, no one was out on the streets besides a lone figure that was seen running up and down the streets that surrounded the university.

Finally reaching Fairy Avenue, Natsu slowed down to a jog to walk up the large hill that lead up to his house. He was breathing heavily after his early morning jog and stopped to catch his breath and take a swig of his water bottle. As he wiped his forehead with his white long sleeve shirt, he took a look at his surroundings. He chuckled to himself as he peered at the new names of the houses that filled Fairy Avenue. He grinned at the names 'One Night Stand' with a picture of a night stand you would put next to a bed and 'Tequila Mockingbird', but his personal favorite so far was a house called 'Hakuna Moscato'.

Stopping in front of a newly named house he nodded in approval at the name and design of the sign for 'Fairy Hills'. His older brother had lived in this exact house when he came to Magnolia University. Natsu laughed thinking back to all the antics he got into his senior year of high school when his brother threw constant parties at this house. He continued onwards towards his own house about two more blocks down the road. Taking out his keys he unlocked his front door to his favorite house on the entire campus – Every Woman's Fairy Tail.

It was a complete and total mistake of a name- Gray being the idiot that he was misspelled the word 'tale' as 'tail', but the name stuck. The design of the sign made up for it as they realized that their hockey symbol kind of looked like a fairy with a tail. The 'Every Woman's" eventually fell off as well, not that that mattered since their house was known as Fairy Tail by the whole campus.

He lived with several other guys, all ranging from junior to senior years in college- all on the hockey team. His best friend (even though he would never admit it out loud), Gray Fullbuster and him found this house their freshman year and signed instantly for their junior year. Gathering up the rest of their gang they all stormed into the huge house and made it their sanctuary. It was a large, eight bedroom house with a wraparound porch which sported a porch swing and a very large backyard covered by trees (great for parties).

Natsu currently lives with seven other guys in this house. One being Gray, who was his right hand man on the hockey team- literally. He plays center forward and Gray was right wing. The two of them were known as the dynamic duo when it came to the great sport of hockey. If he had to describe Gray with one word- it would be stripper. He seemed to have an extremely weird stripping habit, and it didn't even stop when he was on the ice. It seems the cold never really bothered Gray- just like the heat never bothered Natsu. They were complete opposites, but they worked well together.

The next on his list of housemates was the big, bad senior goalie himself – Laxus Dreyar – which just so happened to be the grandson of the chemistry professor he was helping out with this semester. Laxus was a tall, blonde and strong looking guy with girls basically swooning after him due to his looks. Too bad he was taken by the lovely Mirajane Strauss. She was practically a model anyway so it made sense that the two of them were taken by each other.

Mirajane was the older sister to Elfman Strauss- another junior housemate of Natsu's who played defense on the hockey team. He was bigger than Laxus in both muscles and height- meaning he was literally a monster. If you didn't find him out on the ice, you would find him in the gym. He was a fanatic for weight lifting and could be quiet intimidating. Not to mention his weird habit of saying 'Man!' after almost every sentence.

Sting Eucliffe was one of the hockey team's best defensemen alongside his partner in crime Rogue Cheney – both being complete opposites in looks alone. Sting was known by his wild blonde hair and bright blue eyes, while Rogue had jet black hair with red eyes. The two of them were known as the Sabertooth Twin Dragon's back in their high school days when they played for Sabertooth High School. The both of them were juniors studying some type of business major in which they hoped to open their own company one day.

The hockey team's two best left wings were his last two housemates: Gajeel Redfox and Loke 'Leo' Lion. Gajeel was a big guy with a shit ton of piercings and scars and was just intimating to look at it. His wild, unkempt and long black hair just contributed to that further. He actually played both left wing and goalie- unheard of by most hockey teams. This worked out well however as it was hard to find a goalie as good as Laxus, but once he graduated Gajeel would be taking over that spotlight next season.

Loke was considered the playboy of the household- constantly bringing home girl after girl back to his house. That's how he got his nickname of 'Leo'. Not only was it his Zodiac sign (which he constantly told girls because to him it was a magic women swooning line), but he was definitely also a hunter. He never seemed to get denied either much to the shock of everyone in the house considering how much of a reputation he had around campus now. He was a bright guy, but he could become so love struck just by a single look at a woman. They were just lucky he didn't fall to women's charms when the games were on- they would be killed if they lost one of their best left wings.

Thinking back on it now, they were a weird group of guys to be living together. Himself and Gray constantly fighting, Sting cheering on him during the fights whenever he got the chance, Rogue being reserved but obnoxious when Sting was being too obnoxious, Loke always bringing a new woman around, Laxus being quiet but a constant presence, Elfman being just as loud as Natsu and Gray and getting into brawls with them, and Gajeel randomly breaking out into song whenever he got the chance. Not to mention the weird amount of cats they had within the household.

It seemed to Natsu that they all attracted a weird multitude of cats- four to be exact. There was one who was always around him and only would eat different types of fish. He named him Happy due to his weird fur coat- which was a blue- that always seemed to make people smile. Next there was Gajeel's cat who was named Panther Lily (Lily for short) which was a fairly large black cat with a weird scar down its face. He was named Panther Lily since it definitely stalked things like a panther would – Lily because it was too cute in Gajeel's eyes. He would never admit it, but he had cried when he first found the cat.

The next two cats were Sting and Rogue's cats- Lector and Frosh. Sting had found Lector in the trash bin outside their house one day and brought it inside – declaring this cat to be his bodyguard. The cat never really left his side and was a weird magenta color with a pink face and paws. Frosch was the weirdest cat of them all. Rogue said when he found him he was stuck in a green paint can and even to this day they can't seem to get the green out of his fur. Rogue also has this weird habit of dressing Frosch in a pink frog costume. No one understands why he does this, but they don't question it because Frosch was just as weird as him. Always getting stuck in trees, on the roof, and constantly lost without Rogue there – he was interesting cat.

Stepping into the house and stripping off his sweat soaked t-shirt, Natsu walked into the kitchen to make some breakfast before he got ready for class. His housemates always thought he was a strange one for getting up before the sun rose every single morning during the school week (minus the days when he went out the night before), but it helped to tune down his energy levels.

He was known for having large amounts of energy- never being able to sit still in class, getting up at the crack of dawn because he couldn't sleep anymore, and having to run, run, and run until literally his body gave out. At least the constant moving and exercise gave him his great body shape the girls seemed to swoon over - even though he would like to say it was due to his hair color. Who else has naturally pink hair!?

Opening up the fridge to grab the milk, he peered into the shelves to see if there was enough ingredients to make an omelet.

"Good to see you are still into your early morning routine Natsu."

Natsu suddenly jumped up, spinning around and all at the same time threw the milk carton across the kitchen and onto the floor for it to shatter and spill milk all over it. He groaned as he slapped his forehead and gave a look at Mirajane, saying 'Why me?'

"Mira, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that? You literally almost scared the shit outta me." Natsu groaned as he peered at her through his fingers.

"Good thing you didn't do that, or else you would have even more of a mess to clean up." Mira softly laughed and moved around the spilled milk and into the pantry to retrieve something. "Go ahead and clean that up. I'll make you guys some pancakes."

"Seriously!? If that isn't motivation I don't know what is!" Natsu moved around to the sink, grabbing paper towels and Windex to clean the floor. He looked back up to see her mixing the pancake mix into the bowl and after he was done got out the bacon to start making that as well. "I didn't think you were staying the night last night. Did Laxus hold you hostage or something? Cause if you need me to I'll totally kick his ass for yah." Natsu grinned at her as he heard her laugh.

"Oh no that's alright. I wasn't planning on it, but I ended up falling asleep while he was working on some project. He didn't have the heart to wake me up." She smiled softly to herself and moved to make the pancakes. "He doesn't like to show it, but he has a big heart."

Natsu grinned and shook his head. "I'd say he doesn't even have one towards me, but whatever you say Mira." He stuck his finger in the pancake batter – getting his arm hit by Mira in the process – and laid out the cooked bacon on the counter in the middle of the kitchen. "I'm actually surprised you stay so much. I thought it would be weird for you guys with Elfman living here too." As he thought about it, he definitely wouldn't want to live in the same house as his sister's boyfriend… whenever she got one. He would pummel the guy before he got anywhere near staying the night with his sister.

Mira shook her head before laying the first batch of pancakes on the counter as well. "Elfman found it weird at first. But you know how I always get my way. I just told him to suck it up before I beat the shit out of him." She gave him a soft smile, her eyes closed as she gave off this almost demonic aura from her body.

Natsu stared at her with his slice of bacon hanging out of his mouth. He gulped and just nodded slowly. He forgot how scary Mira could be sometimes. Just as scary as Erza when it came down to it. He remembered his freshman year when first meeting the two at a party, he was scared shitless due to their constant heavy presences. At least Mira didn't have the need to punch him and Gray in the head (sometimes effectively knocking them both out) every time they fought like Erza would.

Picking out the pancakes that looked the most underdone (Mira knew just how much he liked nearly raw, gooey pancakes), he sat down at the table and slathered them in butter and syrup. Digging in, he was on his third plate before Laxus roamed into the kitchen and sat down at the table where Mira placed a plate in front of him. He eyed Natsu curiously before shrugging and digging into his own plate.

They all looked up when they heard the front door slam and in walked Loke, who looked like he had just rolled out of bed himself. He sat down at the table, and laid his head down before grabbing a piece of bacon.

"You leave again before she woke up huh?" Loke looked over at Natsu and just nodded in reply. It was not a good night for him. The girl had absolutely no idea what she was doing. One of the worst lays he has ever had, that's for sure. He had already deleted her number, Snapchat and Tinder from his phone – he definitely wouldn't be in contact again. Such a shame too – she was a total 10/10 in his book.

Mira just shook her head and slammed his plate of food in front of him before taking her own seat besides Laxus. "I don't know why you always do that to them Loke. You do know they also have feelings…" She gave him a stern look as he shrunk back in his seat.

"I-I can't help it Mira! Just some ladies are so beautiful at first, I believe I have fallen in love at first sight! But atlas… some just aren't exactly what I am looking for." As dramatic as he was, he had placed the back of his hand against his forehead and leaned back in his chair for emphasis.

"You mean not what you are looking for in bed." Natsu chuckled to himself and stood up, ditching his plate in the sink and walking towards the stairs. "I'll be back. Gonna go get ready for school." On the way up the stairs he passed by Gray's room, which had the door conveniently open and showed a sprawled out Gray on his bed – wearing nothing but his boxers.

What a shocker.

Natsu grinned as he reached for the doorknob and slammed the door shut. Hearing a thump from the other side of the door and an 'Oof!', he walked into his room at the end of the hallway to grab a towel. Walking towards the bathroom, he spotted Gray opening up his door, supporting an already red forehead from his fall off his bed. Grinning, Natsu walked up to him. "Have a nice fall ice princess?"

Gray glared at Natsu, rubbing his red forehead. "What the hell you going on about now flame brain? I didn't fall out of my bed…" Trying to play it off like always.

"Alright so if you didn't fall out of your bed then, did you walk into a wall or some shit? Because that red mark definitely ain't from an angel's kiss."

"Like you would know what an angel's kiss is like. You haven't even slept with a girl yet." Gray bit down on his tongue after he let that comment roll out. Both of them suddenly being deadly quiet. It was an unspoken rule between the two of them not to dish out those types of comebacks – especially ones regarding to Natsu's virginity and Gray's parents.

Natsu, suddenly fuming at what he just heard, just shook his head and turned away, stepping towards the restroom. Gray reached out his arm to grab his shoulder to apologize before Elfman suddenly sprung from his room and grabbed the two of them in a headlock screaming, "Being a virgin is a Man!"

Natsu, sweat dropped and glared towards Gray who had his head down, he mumbled a thanks to Elfman before pushing out of his headlock and walking into the bathroom. Slamming the door behind him, he turned on the shower to the hottest temperature there was – knowing it would do nothing to calm him down at the moment.

What Gray said was true – he was indeed a virgin.

It's not like he hadn't had his chances with girls. He had done a lot of other things with girls… just not sex. He didn't know what it was, but whenever the subject got brought up, he could never commit to doing it. His virginity had become something like a safe zone for him, knowing he still had this one 'first' that he can share with a special someone down the road. The closest he ever got to having sex was last year after a huge bash they threw at their house. One of his best girlfriends, Mira and Elfman's little sister Lisanna Strauss, and him had gotten so drunk they both had no idea what was going on. Gray's bright idea to finally get him to lose his V-card was to shove him and Lisanna in his bedroom, locking the door somehow (since it only locks on the inside), and telling them to 'bang' it out. He and Lisanna were quick to making out and getting naked but it all stopped there. He instantly sobered up when he saw Lisanna reaching for a condom and quickly got up and told her to leave, that he couldn't do this.

To say he felt bad was an understandment.

He wasn't one for hurting people. Hell, he would say he was one of the most loyal guys there ever was, and his favorite thing to do was make people laugh. But the look in her eyes and the tears he saw gathering in them after that put him to shame.

To this day, he and Lisanna still couldn't bring it up. It would just make things too awkward, but he knew he hurt her. He knew she thought it was because she wasn't good enough for him. He knew she thought that he didn't find her attractive enough – especially since he avoided her the rest of the year after that. But that wasn't the case. He just couldn't bring himself to tell her that he was scared.

If there is one thing that Natsu would never admit to – it was him being scared. But having sex and losing that one part of him that was still pure, it scared him shitless. He felt bad for what he did, but he was happy he didn't do it. Plus, it would have been Lisanna's first time too – which scared him even more at the thought of the repercussions that could have come from that. He eventually did apologize to her though when he went to the rented out lake house his group of friends got for a week. He could see the relief on her face but now he was faced with a different problem…

Lisanna knew his secret, and he knew she was determined to be his first.

He was a little more than weirded out when she suddenly started texting him after the week at the lake. At first he thought nothing of it, but when it became a daily thing, almost nonstop texts from her, it started to get weird. Sure, Lisanna was beyond pretty and fun to talk to, but he wasn't really looking for anything in the relationship department. He had too much going on in his family life right now to even think of letting another person in on that level.

Stepping out of the shower, his body bright red from the scorching water, he wiped the steam off the mirror and glanced at himself in it. He knew if he wanted to he could find a girl tonight and probably bring her home, fuck her and lose his v-card and the weight Gray holds over his head for it would finally be lifted. But he was more of the let's cuddle, make out and watched movies kind of guy. Plus, he didn't think he would be all that great in the boyfriend department.

He was book smart but dense as a brick when it came to girls, he would admit to that. Relationships just weren't his thing. He had tried with other girls – even went on a few 'dates' with Lisanna, but they weren't anything special, and he never got that spark that some people say they get when they finally go on a date with 'the one'. Look at him getting all romantic and shit – but it was true. He wanted that connection.

Stepping out of the bathroom he walked into his room, completely ignoring Gray standing outside his bedroom door to try and talk to him. He wasn't in the mood to press Gray's buttons anymore this morning. He knew Gray didn't mean it by what he said before – him just waking up and all, but it really bothered him that Gray didn't consider what he was saying before letting it out. What if Gajeel had overheard? He does have the bedroom right next to Gray's. Or… oh God what if Loke overheard? He would NEVER hear the end of it then. Loke would no doubt try to hook him up with 'one of his bests' that night.

Good thing it was just Elfman who overheard. Elfman already knew about the whole Lisanna thing, Natsu getting his arm dislocated from the punch Elfman threw at him. He could be really scary when in his 'beast mode' as he calls it.

* * *

After getting his early morning classes out of the way, he was finally on his way to his last class of the day – being the TA for a chemistry lab. He wasn't really looking forward to it, since he knew he would be the only teacher for this section, but at least normally only freshman took this course. That had its downsides to it though, since that just seemed to grab him more female attention than he needed.

Checking out his phone, he decided to check out the normal social networking apps he had these days – Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter. Noticing a bright red notification mark on his Tinder app, he pulled it to check out his newest matches. He saw he had 4 new ones – yippee. A couple of the girls even messaged him both saying the same exact thing – 'heyyy ;)'. The girls' way of saying, 'Hey you are really cute we should totally get together.' Sorry ladies, not interested.

He wasn't really into the whole Tinder thing anyway, but he did like to see the girls on campus. He had to agree with the stats that go out each year that Magnolia University had the hottest girls of any college campus. Checking out the other two, he noticed one was a girl he had met at a bar end of last year – Yukino was her name. He would have to tell Sting about this one.

Sting seemed to be overly obsessed with this girl Yukino who he was lab partners with some science class he took freshman year. He never got her number, but never forgot about her. He has told him multiple times that if he could just find her, he would go after her in a heartbeat. Sting definitely was interesting when it came to girls – he was a sucker for brown eyes and light hair.

Looking at his other match his eyes widened when he was looking through her pictures. He had forgotten about swiping right to her profile. She was housemates with Erza and Cana, but he for some reason had never met her before. Lucy's profile definitely caught his attention – not only because her friends were his friends, but because she was breathtakingly beautiful. Long blonde hair, thin waist, large chest (how can you not like big boobs?), and deep brown eyes that made his breath catch in his throat. Her pictures were adorable to say the least, but the one selfie she had on there sold the deal. She was just too pretty.

Stepping into the classroom, he began setting up for the third lab session they would be having. Since he wasn't here for the first few weeks of classes, he had a substitute for him until he returned, so he had a lot to catch up on. After placing all the materials out on the lab tables they would be using for the lab that day, he wrote his name, email, and office hours times up on the white board in the front of the room before sitting down and taking out his phone once again. He looked up when he heard students shuffling in.

Definitely freshman. They all had wide eyes as they looked at him, obviously thinking, 'Where is the other TA?' Silly freshman. He was your boss now.

Hearing a few murmurs he looked up once again to see a group of freshman girls giggling and slightly pointing at him. He grinned at the group and nodded in their direction, all of them giggling more. He shook his head and stood up, just as he was suddenly hugged from the side and nearly tackled to the floor.

"Naaaatsu! It's so good to see you again!" Natsu sweat dropped as he looked down to see it was Lisanna who was attached to his hip. What was she doing in a freshman lab?

"Lisanna, it's nice to see you too." As he said this he slowly pried her off of him. "But what exactly are you doing here in this lab?" He asked her looking down and internally groaning as she kept her hands around his arm.

"I have to take this for a stupid science requirement. You know, the ones you have to take to graduate even though I'm an art major?" She giggled at him.

Stupid science requirement. Stupid him for becoming a TA. Stupid him for – his eyes widened as he took a look at the girl standing behind Lisanna. Scratch that. Scratch all of it. He was happy for this science requirement. Happy he was a TA.

Definitely happy because right there, behind Lisanna, stood the one match on Tinder he found so breathtakingly beautiful.

Lucy.

* * *

Let me know what you all think!  
please review again - I would love to hear what you think about this chapter cause its more towards Natsu's view (who I loved doing).  
Also- let me know if you think any characters are OOC! Its difficult to keep everyone in check, since it is my first fanfic and all, but I would love the feedback!  
thanks! ~


	3. Chapter 3: A Night Out

**Responding to Reviews:**

KirstyKakes: I loved your review! Thank you so much for commenting on both chapters! It gives me the motivation to keep writing this. So far, this next chapter has been a little difficult, but I am getting used to my writing style. It's hard to keep it away from OOC, but I think so far I am doing a decent job – the only one who I question myself on is Lisanna, but there's a reason behind this. But thank you again!

Shipper9000: Thank you! I know it's a little surprising to have him as a virgin, but I have my reasons and I always have had this head canon about him not giving that up one part of him XD

bLaCkXbLaZe: I agree with you 100%, but it is so hard to not to have her OOC at the moment. I can see her possibly being like this in a college setting where if they had a great childhood connection – like they did in the manga – then she may get a little obsessive. I've seen it happen plenty of times in college. Plus, with coming chapters you'll see why she's like that even more XD but no spoilers here~ Thank you for your review3

Chelsea: Yes, I know it's a little confusing as to why he is on the hockey team, but bear with me here. You will see in the next coming chapters why I chose hockey as the main sport to portray instead of him playing football or soccer or some sort. I think you'll come to like it (I hope at least XD)

BUT HERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER YAY! Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: A Night Out**

Could this really be happening right now? The boy she was just thinking of on the walk to class, hoping, _praying_ , that she just might have him as her Chemistry lab TA, was standing right in front of her.

The only downfall to that was her lab partner was cuddling up his arm like she held claim over him.

Lisanna, who was a sophomore here, and she were paired on the first day of lab together since they didn't want to get stuck with freshman, especially freshman boys. When you are finally no longer a freshman in college the last thing you want to face are even more freshman. You finally start to realize just how… _annoying_ you were.

Lisanna was a sweet girl, so if she and Natsu were together, it would make sense. Seeing them together like that, they looked good together… Lucy couldn't help but to feel as if her chest grew heavy. Why was she feeling like this over a simple boy she has never even talked to or met before anyway?

Sighing to herself she watched Natsu's reactions to Lisanna gripping him like a toddler would to a parent's leg. He didn't look too pleased to see her, or that just might be because of the way she was hugging his body. Looking him over, Lucy had to say he looked even better up close than in his Tinder pictures or when she first gained a glance of him during chemistry class. He was wearing a dark red shirt with some type of logo on it – it looked like the logo she saw on that other guy's chest in one of Natsu's Tinder pictures. She could barely make out that the back of his shirt had a number and the name "Dragneel" across the back.

Natsu Dragneel huh? The name fit him well. The rest of his outfit consisted of his trademark scarf, just like he said in his Tinder profile – he always wore it, a dark pair of pants that really showed off his muscular legs – and seriously, he even has a butt!?- And white Vans. His outfit fit his body shape well. After literally raping his body over with her eyes, she peered up to his face to see him staring right back at her. Her face was quickly absorbed in a fierce blush, but she held eye contact back.

Did he know who she was? Does he remember matching with her on Tinder, just yesterday? Her mind was going a mile a minute before she was suddenly pulled forward by Lisanna closer towards Natsu.

"Lucy! Have you met Natsu yet? I've known him since my freshman year here and he's really good friends with Cana and Erza!" Lisanna smiled sweetly at her and hit Natsu in the stomach which gained an, 'oof!' out of him.

"What was that for Lis?" Natsu, peeled his eyes away from Lucy, looking down at Lisanna with a raised eyebrow. Lucy couldn't help but to think that any facial expression would look on his face. What was his background? How do two people make someone this attractive?

Lisanna huffed at him and hooked her arm through Lucy's, effectively breaking her out of her trace. "I wanted you to stop staring at Lucy like she had two heads. You could be a little nicer you know."

Natsu just gave her look and gave Lucy his trademark grin. "Yo Lucy! I'm Natsu, it's nice to meet yah!" He held out his hand for her, and begun to sweat a little when she just stared at it. Was he really that bad with girls, or was Lucy just a weirdo?

After getting hit in the ribs by Lisanna's elbow, she finally took Natsu's hand in her own and gently shook it. "Ah sorry! It's nice to finally meet you too Natsu. We matched on-" Lucy effectively shut up there and then. She almost just told him that they matched on Tinder. That would have been too awkward. Oh no- "I-I mean! We match! Yeah, our outfits. We match today! Haha!" Smooth one Lucy, smooth.

Natsu looked down at his outfit and then back up at hers. They were wearing something similar. She was in a maroon, long-sleeved shirt with black leggings and boots. She even was wearing a light colored scarf around her neck. "Uh, yeah. I guess we are." He scratched the back of his head and then looked at Lisanna. "Can you two go to your desk now? I gotta get class started before the rest of the class starts to think I have two heads. We can talk some other time that's outside of class." He felt bad for cutting off contact with her so soon, but he could see his overseer watching from outside the door and he had to get class started.

He watched as Lisanna literally drug Lucy over to their lab station and he began class. Maybe him and Lucy were compatible after all – they both made horrible first impressions.

* * *

"Could I have been any more awkward!?" Lucy groaned into her pillow as Levy sat on the edge of her bed giggling. "I'm just lucky we were both wearing similar outfits, or that could have been absolutely horrifying if he knew what I was really going to say."

Levy just rubbed Lucy's back in a comforting circle. Her best friend was so goofy sometimes. "Look at you getting all worked up over some boy – especially one you matched with on Tinder! I knew it was a good idea for you to get on the Tinder grind!" Levy smiled down at Lucy who she could tell was fighting back a blush.

"Shush up Levy-chan! It's weird enough constantly getting messages from guys I don't know! It's just sad that the one guy who I really want to talk to hasn't messaged me. I think I made such a horrible first impression that he'll stray away from me now." She hid her face more into her pillow and groaned. "I think I'm doomed to always be single… just like Aquarius said I would be."

Aquarius was a long-term family friend of her mothers. Her mother, Layla, and Aquarius had actually met here at Magnolia University and were freshman year roommates. They stayed together throughout their four years here and it was actually Aquarius who pointed Lucy in the direction of Magnolia Uni for college. She would be forever grateful to Aquarius for all that she has done for her family.

"Don't say that Lu-chan! Maybe this guy will be better than you think! Or maybe, you should just be the one who contacts him first! Boys like that you know!" Levy smiled down at her and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "I am going to go get ready for tinis. You are coming with us right? 'Tini Tuesdays was always our favorite last year!"

"Yeah, don't worry I will be there Levy-chan. I could use a couple drinks myself after the day I've had." Lucy got up and shut her door after Levy left, changing into a simple white and blue top with her favorite blue skirt. She put on her brown boots and grabbed a long coat for the night. It seemed like whenever they went for martinis on Tuesdays that they always ended up staying out to go to the bars afterwards. The traditional life of a Magnolia Uni student.

Walking down the stairs she spotted everyone else waiting around the door. Walking the ten minutes to get to Main Street, they finally arrived to their destination, CSB, or better known as the Celestial Spirit Bar. It was Lucy's favorite bar on Main Street – and there was way too many to count around Magnolia University. Celestial Spirit Bar was a more high class, and upscale bar, but every Tuesday they have 'Tini Tuesdays' – meaning all martinis were only five dollars. And 'Not Tini Tuesdays' on Thursdays which were every other drink on the menu besides the martinis were five dollars. A real steal both of these days were. She had actually considered working there last year after she finally turned twenty-one, but when telling her father that he told her to just focus on her studies. She was really fortunate to have a father who was willing to help her pay for literally everything.

It didn't always use to be like this with her dad. After her mother died when she was really young, her father shut her out of his life and they had a horribly rocky relationship. It wasn't until her freshman year in college when she finally moved out that he realized how much he missed her being around. When she was finally home for the summer, they made amends and had a very good relationship now.

Walking into CBS, her, Levy, Erza, and Cana all sat down at the bar and ordered their favorite drinks. Lucy said hi to her favorite waitress – Yukino – who was working tonight and took a look at her surroundings. She noticed a few others who were also working. Normally people who worked at the bar got a nickname based on their Zodiac Sign – something to do with withholding the 'Celestial Spirit Code' that the owner found this bar on. Yukino was an exception because it seemed like all the Zodiac signs were taken. Taurus was over in the corner trying to smooch up some of the other girls present for tinis. Cancer was behind the bar talking to a new girl – her name tag read Aries – and was braiding her hair. Libra was behind the counter cleaning glasses and putting away liquor bottles. Normally Gemini would be working with this crowd as well. Gemini was actually a pair of identical twin boys and they only had one name because you could never tell them apart no matter how hard you tried.

Feeling a sudden presence to her side, Lucy slowly turned around came face to face with another one of her Tinder matches. What was his name again? Louis? Luke? Oh! Loke!

"Fancy meeting you here my charming, delicate blonde. My name is the mighty Loke, and I hope to be of service to you tonight." The man standing in front of Lucy was a tall, handsome guy with glasses framing his eyes. He had a wild head of hair, which was a reddish brown and looked like a lion's mane. Now thinking about it, his name tag did say Leo on it. So he also worked here then?

"Um, hello. My name is Lucy. It's nice to meet you Loke." She smiled at him. He didn't seem too bad. Maybe he was a normal one until most other guys.

"I must say, I have never seen a beauty such as yourself walk in through these doors. Your light just seems to be washing over me. Do I say it? Yes. I think I have fallen deeply in love with you. And we only just met, my dearest Lucy." Nope. Scratch that. Definitely not normal. He grabbed her hands and held them up to his lips, lightly kissing her knuckles. "Would you do me the favor and become mine tonight?"

The next thing Lucy saw was Loke on the ground with a big bump forming on his head. Erza stood over him, her fist cocked towards were Loke's head used to be and a scowl on her face. "What the hell do you think you are doing Loke? Hitting on my housemate while I am standing right here. What? Do you think I wouldn't notice you trying to get into my friend's pants?" Erza was emitting this deep red aura. She was really pissed off.

But Lucy couldn't be more thankful. Seriously, what was up with guys these days?

Loke seemed to realize just who he had pissed off and cowered in fear. Grabbing onto one of Lucy's legs he shivered. "I-I didn't mean it Erza! I swear! I promise to be good! No more hitting on your friends! Understood!" Lucy looked down and glared at Loke, feeling his hand slowly rising up her leg and towards her skirt. That's it! This means war!

Pulling back the leg that Loke wasn't attached to, she kicked him as hard as she could while sitting down and screamed something like, "Lucy Kick!" This effectively threw Loke off of her and had him landing in a heap on the ground.

"But-but Lucy! I thought we were destined to be soulmates!" Loke slowly stood up, dusted off his suit, fixed his tie and then turned around, fixing his glasses. His face was scuffed up and the bump still showing on his head. "One of these days, I will make you mine. Until then, I bid you goodbye my beauty." Walking, if that's what you would call it with the amount of staggering he was doing, Loke made it to the bar before falling unconscious to the floor. Aries rushed over to help him and ended up dragging him into the kitchen area behind the bar that was blocked by a door.

Erza gave Lucy a thumbs up, with her triumphant look plastered on her face. "Nicely done Lucy! I knew you were stronger than you looked!"

"What's that supposed to mean Erza…?" Lucy looked at her with a disgruntled look on her face before turning back around to Yukino who was just smiling at her.

"Oh Lucy. You always have the worst trouble with boys. Sorry about Loke though, he's like that with a lot of girls who walk in here." Yukino was just getting done making another drink and set it in front of Lucy. "This one is on the house for you."

Lucy smiled at her and nodded in thanks, taking a sip of the drink. She really wanted to get drunk tonight now and judging by the amount of alcohol she could taste in her drink, Yukino knew exactly how she felt.

* * *

Loke, sprawled out on the kitchen floor in the back of the bar, finally opened his eyes to see a pink haired beauty looking down at him. The lights in the room seemed to make her gain a halo around her head, almost as if she was an angel sent down from heaven to take care of him. He felt her hands press against the bump on his head, but it was a cooling sensation – which he was thankful for. "And who do I owe the thanks to for taking care of me?"

He glanced at her face as he saw a bright blush run across it. "I'm s-sorry! I just wanted to make sure you were alright! I'm sorry!" She bowed her head down and fumbled with her hands in her lap. Loke smiled to himself and just sighed. She was pretty cute. Her pink fluffy hair and soft features really stood out to the black dress the girls were required to wear at CSB if you worked here.

"Please don't apologize. I should be the one who should be doing that. You having to take care of me and all. At least I have an angel to do that for me. What is your name?" Loke sat up and stared at her.

"I'm sorry! My name is Aries. I'm sorry! It's actually my real name as well. Are you okay now? Should you be sitting up?" Loke watched her before a smile crossed his features.

"Yes I am fine. Thank you for your concern." She reminded him of a lamb, and he was just the lion finding his next prey.

* * *

"What do you mean you aren't coming out tonight, Natsu? It's Tuesday. You always go out on Tuesdays. Come on!" Gray was pounding on Natsu's door trying to get him to open it up. "You are being such a loser flame brain! Get out here!" He was this close to breaking down the door. He had done it before, but he knew Natsu didn't need that right now.

What he needed was a good night out and a few drinks in his system.

"Go away Ice Prick! I already told you I don't feel like leaving the house." Natsu was sprawled out on his bed, his head hanging off the edge and Happy laid out across his chest as he was absently petting him. "I had a weird day. I don't need the night to be weird as well."

Gray groaned leaning back against Natsu's door. Why was this always so difficult? So what – you made a fool of yourself in front of a pretty girl. What's new? This happened to him all the time. What's different now? Was there finally a girl who was catching Natsu's eye? Looking down at his phone, he noticed that Erza had texted him back.

'Gray where are you? We are about to leave CSB. Want to meet up at Tenrou Island?' Erza's text brought a grin to his face. That was Natsu's favorite bar. Tenrou Island was the most famous bar on Main Street. Banging on his door again, Gray pounded a couple more times before he heard Natsu groan on the other side. "Natsu! Erza just texted me saying she wanted to meet up with us. Her, Cana and their housemates are all out together and"- Suddenly the door he was just knocking on was thrown open and his shoulders – where the hell had his shirt gone!? – were grabbed by Natsu.

"Did you just say Erza, Cana and their _housemates_?" He was giving Gray this slightly weird look. Almost like he was hoping he heard wrong, but also that he heard right.

"Yeah, flame brain. You coming or what?" Gray grinned as he saw Natsu run back into his room and throwing on a black long-sleeved shirt, dark red pants and his normal scarf. "So is this girl who you so rightly embarrassed yourself in front of earlier today one of Erza's housemates?"

Natsu nodded and looked away. "She is. Her name is Lucy. She just so happened to be in my lab that I TA in, along with Lisanna." He heard Gray suck in a breath and knew exactly what he was thinking. What a bad mix up. Lisanna and Natsu had history, ever since they met they were almost inseparable, and then the whole drunken escapade happened and they fell apart. Gray knew Natsu didn't like her in the way he used to, and now this new girl was in the picture it may cause a little drama especially if Lucy and Lisanna were friends.

"Good grief, Pyro. Could you have picked a more troublesome girl to go after?" Gray grumbled but they had finally reached Tenrou Island. The place was packed already as they stepped up to the twenty-one and over line before being let in. Taking out his phone, he texted Erza back that they were there and went to head to the bar to order their drinks.

"Hey, Ice Princess, put your shirt back on. You're attracting too much attention again. Don't go and get yourself kicked out again for being naked" Gray looked down at his body and sure enough, his shirt was in his hands and off his body. How the hell does this keep happening to him!? Looking up after rebuttoning his shirt, he made eye contact with a girl working behind the bar. She had a mad blush across her cheeks as if she had just witnessed the most sexual act displayed by man. She had long blue curls that flowed elegantly like water around her shoulders, and wore a shirt that said, 'Tenrou Island Staff'. Guess she was a new barista huh? Gray walked up to the bar and held out his credit card towards her.

"Can I get two pitchers of the special?" He saw her hand shaking as she took his card from his hands. There was a jolt between them as their fingers touched and the girl looked away.

"J-Juvia will get right on that for you- uh?" She looked so flustered.

"The name is Gray. It's nice to meet you Juvia." He gave her a grin and he thought he saw her nearly faint before grabbing onto the bar for support.

"Gr-Gray-sama! I will fulfill your order for you! Juvia will do anything to make Gray-sama happy!" Gray-sama? Well, whatever floats her boat he guessed.

"Uh, thanks." He watched her turn away and fill up the pitchers with some type of drink. Looks like a lot of alcohol and no mix to help it out. That's fine. It took way too much to get Natsu drunk these days anyway. The guy was like a dragon, fire coursing through his veins as it burned away the alcohol before it could even affect him. Sometimes Gray was really jealous of his tolerance, but other times he wasn't. He liked being drunk.

Being fuzzy throughout the night was always a good time.

Getting the pitchers from Juvia he winked at her and stepped away. Handing Natsu his own, he looked down into his hand to see a wrinkled piece of paper. Opening it up, he saw it had a number written on it and the name Juvia. Looking back to see Juvia smiling at him, he grinned back at her, stashing the piece of paper into his jeans pocket.

Well, she certainly was interesting one wasn't she?

* * *

Lucy stumbled into Tenrou Island, her arm hooked through Levy's as she was already drunk. Her tolerance was a flat zero – always had been even after her other two years here. She could drink a whole bottle of wine and not feel a thing – but give her liquor and she was a goner.

"Levy-chan! Why are we here? Did Erza want to meet up with Jellal?" She leaned her face in close to Levy's ear. "Does she want to go off and do the dirty with him?" She giggled more as Levy laughed along with her – feeling the effects of her own alcohol.

"Nooooo! Lu-chan! Erza wanted to meet up with some of her other friends. We are meeting up with them too! New friends Lu! New friends!" Lucy clapped along with Levy as they walked into the main bar area. It was a large bar that had two separate floors. The upstairs was strictly twenty-one and over with its own bathrooms and bar area, but the downstairs area was the main bar counter with a large dancefloor. This place could be rented out for parties and concerts, and it was the number one bar in the Magnolia area.

As they were heading to the bar, Lucy unhooked her arm with Levy's and was pushed by another person, crashing into a hard chest. The smell of this guy was so intoxicating, making Lucy's mind turn even fuzzier than it was before. Looking up, she made eye contact with a dark, olive green pair of eyes that seemed to widen as they took her in. She giggled as she pushed away, her hands on the hard chest she was thrown into and she saw a white, scaly scarf around his neck.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run right into you. I was pushed. And I" – Her sentence stopped short as she finally realized just who she ran into. Natsu Dragneel. "Oh, um, Natsu… I'm sorry about this!"

Natsu just gave her a grin and scratched the back of his head. "Nah, it's alright Lucy. Did you come here with Erza?" Seeing her nod in reply, he smiled and held out his pitcher. "Want some? It's pretty damn good and Gray seemed to have gotten a lot more alcohol put in this than normal."

Lucy smiled up at him and took the straw, taking a giant sip out of it. Damn, when he said there was a lot of alcohol in this, he meant it. She took in the site of him, noticing that the dark atmosphere extended his looks even further, but that could just be the blurriness of her vision at the moment. Suddenly she was pushed once again back into Natsu's chest and his overwhelming scent filled her nose again. She could get used to this.

Feeling an arm wrap around her waist, she felt herself blush as she was pulled closer to him. "Come on, Lucy. We should head upstairs to the twenty-one and over section. That way we won't be pushed around. I saw Erza head up there with Cana and a short, blue-haired girl before." He placed his hand on the small of her back as he lead her towards the stairs and up to the second level.

After finally finding Erza, Cana and Levy, who had gotten a table near the railing overlooking the dance floor, Natsu got Lucy into a high-top chair and stood between her and Erza. Erza placed a green looking shot in front of both him and Lucy, and he gave her a raised eyebrow in return. "What's this Erza? It looks literally like death."

"It's Lucy's favorite shot – Dirty Girl Scout – so just take it with her." Seeing Lucy's face brighten up, Natsu shrugged his shoulders and held the shot up with Lucy, before clinking shot glasses and downing the shot. Holy shit that was good. Normally he wasn't much of a fan of mint flavored things – being more of a cinnamon person himself – but that was damn good. She had good taste in shots then.

"Thank you Erza! That was soooo good! I haven't had one since we got back to school." Lucy smiled at Erza and took Natsu's pitcher from his hands and chugged a good amount of it.

"Damn Lucy, you planning on blacking out? Did Loke's flirting really piss you off that much? Or are you just planning on finding some hot dude and hoping he'll fuck your brains out tonight?" Cann grinned at Lucy as she watched her sputter and quickly hand Natsu's pitcher back to him.

Before she could respond she saw Natsu quickly turn towards her, a weird look in his eyes. "Did Loke do something to you? Cause I swear if he did I'll beat his ass for you. That damn bastard doesn't know when to keep his dick in his pants." Lucy busted out laughing and smiled at Natsu. So it was jealously she saw in his eyes then. Placing a hand on his chest, he quickly shut up.

"No, no Natsu don't worry. I'm fine. He was just being himself as Erza said. I'm guessing he's a friend of yours as well?"

"More like a nuisance of a housemate than a friend to tell you the truth…" Natsu just grinned at her as he heard her laugh at his joke. Damn, he feel good when he heard that laugh. He could listen to that sound all day.

"There you are pyro. Where the hell did you go after I handed you your pitcher? I lost track of your ugly face when that rush of freshman came in through the door." Gray stopped short when he saw the blonde girl in front of Natsu, hand on his chest. A grin plastered itself on his face as he placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Another pretty girl to add to our weird pack of friends, eh?" He smiled at Lucy and saw her quickly remove her hand from Natsu's chest. So that's how it was, huh?

"Hey Ice Princess, no butting in. No one wants to see your ugly mug around here anyway." Natsu retorted back at him, but a grin was on his face. "This is Lucy by the way. Lucy this is Ice Princess."

"The name is Gray, not Ice Princess. It's a pleasure Lucy." He took her hand in his and shoot it. "I'm sorry you have to withstand flame brains presence. I know he can be quite the handful." He sent a look at Natsu but heard Lucy giggle at their name calling before her eyes widened.

"What are you doing with your shirt!? Why are you stripping!?" Gray looked down to see that indeed, he was on the last button on his shirt.

"Why the hell does this keep happening!? I swear to God I never realize when I start to do this!" Natsu laughed loudly at Gray before turning to Lucy.

"This is stripper in his natural habitat. He tends to strip everything, even while in public. At least it's always easy to find him – just follow the screaming." He laughs some more as he saw Gray grumbling, slowly buttoning up his shirt again.

A heavy presence suddenly filled around them and Gray looked over to see Juvia glaring her eyes at Lucy. What the hell was she doing up here? Wasn't she supposed to be working?

Juvia made her way over to the table and peered closely at Lucy's face before saying, "Juvia claims you as Love Rival." She quickly grabbed the empty shot glasses and cups before walking away from the table. "Gray-sama deserves so much more."

Well that was certainly strange. Watching Juvia walk away Lucy had a shocked look on her face. What was that about? A love rival? But she wasn't into Gray!

"Well that was strange… Anyone want anything? I'm going up to the bar to grab some drinks." Natsu said as he looked around the table. Taking everyone's orders he walked up to the bar with Gray to place their orders.

* * *

After finally getting himself drunk, Natsu grabbed Levy and Lucy's hands before leading them down the stairs and towards the dance floor. "Come on! Let's go dance before this bar finally closes for the night!" When Natsu was drunk, he danced. He didn't know what it was, but with the alcohol burning through his system and the music pumping, he loved to dance with whatever girl was willing to dance along with him. Seeing Gray bringing along Erza and Cana, they effectively took over a small portion of the dance floor and began to dance.

Natsu took ahold of Lucy's waist and placed her back to his front. They moved along to the beat of the music and he tightened his grip on her hips. His face was pressed against the side of her head near her ear. Feeling her hands placing themselves on top of his, he grinned over at Gray, seeing Cana grinding against him, her arms up and hooked around Gray's neck.

Leaning in closer to her ear, Natsu whispered, "How much do you wanna bet they will end up making out before the night is over?" Lucy gasped as she felt his breath against the side of her neck, but looked to where he was looking. Grinning back up at him, she nodded.

"I can't disagree with that. Once Cana is drunk all she thinks about is more alcohol and a boy's penis." She moved her body a little bit more against Natsu's and started to grind deeply back against him. Hearing him suck in a breath, he quickly moved his hips back to meet hers. Damn, he felt good against her.

The two of them quickly got into it, grinding hard against each other and moving to the beat of the music. Lucy threw her hands up to wrap around Natsu's neck and she leaned back to stare up into his face. Seeing him watching her made her grip tighten more, and she moved her hands up into his hair. Why was it so soft? Why was it pink? Why was he just so damn attractive?

Natsu held back a groan as he felt her fingers trace along his scalp. What was she doing to him? He should not be feeling this attracted to a girl already, but there was just this control she seemed to have over him. He moved his head down and pressed it against her neck, lightly tracing up her neck with his nose, and breathing out against her. He felt her shiver against him, and he grinned. He has an effect on her too huh?

"Hey… do you want to get out of here?" Natsu choked as his eyes widened down at Lucy. Did he just hear her correctly? She wanted to leave the bar with him? Seeing her pleading eyes looking up into his, Natsu numbly nodded and felt her take his hand in hers.

Looking back over at the group, he saw Levy's eyes wide, Erza giving him a glare and mouthing, 'Wear protection', and Cana and Gray both giving him a thumbs up. Looking back at Lucy he couldn't help but to think that she wasn't this type of girl. Maybe it was just her drunken mind getting the best of her. Hell – they both were drunk. What was the point fighting it?

* * *

Finally reaching back to his house, he opened up the front door and felt Lucy press her body against his. He chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her waist and led her towards the stairs, seeing her tumble up them. Reaching his room, he turned on the lights. He smiled down at Happy, hearing him meow in hello and saw Lucy let out a little girl scream before leaning down picking up Happy to hold him against her chest.

"You have a cat!? Why do you have a cat!? What's his name!? Why is he blue!? Ahhhh! He's so cute Natsu!" Natsu sweat dropped but replied anyway.

"Yes, I have a cat. I have one because I can. His name is Happy, and I actually have no idea why he is blue." Lucy seemed to have heard him by her nod as she went over to his bed and sat down. "I'm gonna go change, okay? I'll be right back."

He walked out of the room after grabbing a change of clothes and changed quickly in the bathroom. He was already sober by the time they got back to his house, but he couldn't have made Lucy walk home alone in her drunken state.

Getting back to his room he stopped in the doorway and smiled sweetly at the scene. Lucy was passed out on his bed with Happy cuddled up to her side. Moving over to the bed, he pulled Lucy's shoes off and placed them on the bed side before moving the covers back and climbing into the other side of the bed, pulling the covers up and over them.

"G'night Lucy… Sleep well." He smiled to himself and couldn't help but to think that he liked having her next to him like this. He could definitely get used to it.

* * *

End Chapter 3! Hope you all liked it!

It seems every chapter keeps extending on word count XD  
I don't know when the next chapter will be out, since I have a lot of work to do the rest of the weekend and this week, but I am hoping I'll be able to keep up their writing habit. I am starting to like the story a lot :D

Please review! They are inspiring me to keep on writing this XD  
Also- if you have any ideas on what you would like to see - or any experiences you've had in college that would be funny to story, please tell me! I would love to write to please :D


	4. Chapter 4: Operation NaLu: Begin!

Welp, here is the next chapter! Sorry it took me so long to upload again (a week is a long time for me when it comes to NaLu XD) but school got in the way and it was harder to come up with this next chapter. The beginning three were easy since I knew exactly how I wanted to start it, this one took more time.

I think this is how updating for this story is going to go now - once a week since school and the writing process is becoming harder now.

Hope you all enjoy it!

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Operation NaLu: Begin!**

She was warm. A little too warm for her normal preferences while sleeping, but it was a safe warmth, and she snuggled in closer to it. Had Erza finally relented and allowed them to turn on the heat? And when had her pillow gotten so hard? All this thinking in the morning was beginning to give her the headache she knew was coming from the previous night.

A slightly familiar scent filled her nose as she inhaled deeply. Opening her eyes slowly, she took in her surroundings as it was finally sinking into her hungover mind that something was not right.

This was not her room and she was not in her bed.

Her eyes widened in shock and she began to push away from the comforting warmth before an arm pulled her back towards the hard pillow, _chest,_ as she realized it was. She stiffened as she felt her, uh _companion,_ for the night place his face into her hair, his arm tightly wrapped around her waist. His fingers were splayed across her lower back as she blushed deeply at the closeness of his _naked_ chest to her face.

What had she done last night? She didn't… She didn't sleep with him right? Checking over his chest and shoulders, since that was all she could see from her position pressed against him like this, trying to figure out just who she was in bed with. His chest was nicely sculpted and she could tell by her hands spread across his pecks that he was extremely built. Allowing her eyes to roam up towards his shoulder areas, her eyes widened at a large red tattoo across his right shoulder – it was sort of shaped like a creature with wings and a tail. Where had she seen that before? It looked vaguely familiar.

"You move 'round too much, Luigi." Her eyes widened as she heard Natsu's sleepy, husky voice speak right into her ear and she pushed away from him, effectively falling off the bed and letting out a loud yelp. The blankets now a piled mess below and on top of her and with her legs still on the top of the bed, she looked up to see Natsu staring down at her. With a large grin plastered on his sleepy face, he placed his head in his hand and peered at her over the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing weirdo? Planning on sleeping the rest of the morning on the floor or something?" Before she could retaliate back at him and demand answers as to just why she was sleeping in his bed, his door flew open to reveal a fully naked Gray walking into the room.

"What the hell was that noise Flame Brain? You going for round two this early in the morning or…?" He looked down and saw Lucy splayed across the ground. "What are you doing down there?"

Lucy's face was bright red before she screamed and covered her face with her hands. "Why are you naked!? What is wrong with you people!?"

"Wha-? How the fuck does this keep happening!?" Gray ran out of the room as Natsu threw his pillow at him, yelling 'Get the fuck out!', which hit the door as it slammed shut. Lucy's face was impossibly red as she kept thinking to herself over and over again that she just saw her first fully naked boy. Why was this all happening to her so suddenly? Hearing Natsu's laugh ring throughout the room, she sent her glare his way and he effectively shut up, coughing into his hand.

"Uh, sorry about Gray. He's like that basically all the time." He looks down at her, a goofy grin plastered across his face. Sitting up on the bed he held his hands out for her. Taking her hands in his, he pulled her back up to her feet but a little too strongly. Instead of being balanced, she fell forwards and on top of Natsu. Lucy, flustered that this morning just kept getting worse, looked down and right into Natsu's eyes. He stared back at her, his face covered in a blush as his hands were on her hips, her own on his chest.

Lucy quickly realized the position they were in and sat up, her heart pounding in her chest. She turned away from him as he also sat up and looked out his bedroom window.

"Ah, well. Sorry about that. I guess I don't know my own strength…?" _What a lame joke you idiot._ Natsu scratched the back of his head as this thought crossed through his mind. Hearing Lucy mumble something he turned to face her. "What was that?"

"I asked if… Did we…? You know…?" Natsu confused by her question watched her as a dark blush was across her cheeks and she was looking down into her lap where her hands were clenched tightly.

"Did we what?" Natsu watched as she took in a deep breath and turned towards him.

"You know! Have sex? Did we have sex? Did we do anything that I need to know about because I don't remember a damn thing about last night?!" Her face was bright red. Whether that was from anger or embarrassment he couldn't tell.

Waving his hands in front of his body, he shook his head furiously no. "No. No. No. No! I wouldn't take advantage of you like that. We left the bar together last night when you asked me to take you home. We ended up back at my house and you passed out in my bed literally as soon as you sat down on it." He smiles at her seeing her instantly calm down. "I could never do that to a girl who was drunk, and especially not to you Luce."

Lucy perked up at the new nickname he had just given her. Luce? She liked the way it rolled off his tongue. "Say it again."

"Say what again?" Lucy blushed as she realized she had asked that out loud before fully facing him, grabbing a pillow from his bed and holding it against her chest.

"Say Luce again. Please?" He watched her confused but shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure Luce. Whatever you say." He grinned at her seeing her sigh in contempt and moved to hop off the bed. "I gotta start getting ready for my chemistry class. You gonna be okay here alone for a bit?" He turned to face her and saw her eyes wide.

"What time is it!? I have the same chemistry class you TA in! Oh no I cannot miss that class! I am having a hard enough time figuring out what Professor Makarov is saying while even paying attention!" She frantically scrambled off the bed and looked around for her shoes, which were conveniently placed by the door. She paused and looked over towards Natsu hearing his laugh fill her ears again. "What? What's so funny?"

"N-nothing but you Luce." He grinned at her but looks down at his watch. "It's only eight in the morning, so calm down. Class isn't till eleven anyway. How 'bout this – let me go shower and get ready and I will drive you and Cana back to your house. I can wait for you two to be ready to go and I'll drive us all to class so you aren't late."

Lucy stared at him dumbfounded but slowly nodded. Was he always this kind to people he hardly knew? She watched him as he fumbled around the room looking for a change of clothes to wear. He still wasn't wearing a shirt – not that she minded at all with those sculpted abs and v-line leading down into his sweatpants. She looked down and gave his ass a good looking too. It wasn't fair that he had an ass as well. That was such a turn on towards girls. She looked back up to see him grinning at her, a towel thrown over his shoulders. "Like what you see Luce?" She blushed and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest after he winked at her.

"I was just admiring your horribly kept room. How do you live in a mess like this?" She gestured towards the clothes piled up in various places on the floor.

"I do what I do since no one can make me clean up here." He grinned that devilish grin of his that made her stomach churn in a very… _interesting_ way. "But I am gonna go shower." He turns towards the door but stops, his hand gripping the doorknob. Grinning towards her, he pulls the door open slowly. "Care to join me Luce?" He gave his best deep, husky voice that he could muster – throwing all of the seducing tones along into it. Seeing her face heat up, he laughed as he ran out the door, closing it behind him just as the pillow she threw at him hit the door.

* * *

Lucy stepped into her house, Cana following closely behind her with Natsu trailing the group. He grinned upon entering one of his favorite houses on campus. This is where he attended his first college party thanks to his older brother and his buddies. Man was this nostalgic. He watched as Lucy and Cana climbed up the stairs to their rooms and he sat down on the couch, pulling out his phone to pass the time.

Lucy glanced at Cana before entering her room and shook her head. She couldn't believe she had stayed the night in the same house as her – an all boy's house at that! At least she was smart enough not to sleep with Gray and instead sleep on the couch. That would have been so awkward knowing that the reason why Gray was naked this morning would have been because he slept with her housemate. That was just too weird in her opinion.

Quickly changing into something more comfortable, she looked herself over in the mirror and nearly groaned at her reflection. Had she looked like that all morning? Natsu must think she's a wreck in the mornings with how smeared her make up is and her bed-ridden hair. How can a boy be so gorgeous in the morning and she look so… ugly? She quickly swiped off her make-up and reapplied it and brushed her hair, pulling it into her favorite side ponytail. Reaching for her backpack she filled it with today's books and notes and filed out of the room. Just before she turned the corner, she overheard Natsu talking with Erza.

"So Lucy stayed the night with you last night…" She heard Erza's demanding tone and cringed for Natsu. That poor guy... she shouldn't have left him alone.

"Uh, yeah Erza. She did. I couldn't let her walk home alone with how drunk she was. Plus she insisted on coming back to my house. I couldn't say no."

"You used protection right?" Lucy's face heated up at this and she nearly fell down the stairs from embarrassment. Erza! How could you just plainly ask that!

"No, we didn't and I didn't plan on sleeping with her." Her heart sunk at this. He didn't want to sleep with her? Does he not find her attractive? She stopped as she heard him sigh before adding, "She's too good for a guy like me Erza." Did she just hear him right? She was too good for _him_? She felt that it was the other way around. He was too good to be true.

Deciding she heard enough, she walked a little too loudly down the stairs and stopped at the bottom to peer around the living room. Sure enough, there was Natsu on the couch with Erza sitting in the chair across from him. "Hey Natsu. You ready to go?" He nodded and stood up, stretching his arms up to show off that delicious v-line again.

"Where's Cana? Is she ditching?" She heard him ask and she nodded laughing to herself.

"Yeah, she told me she felt too gross and too hungover to even think about anything that has to do with elements. I kind of don't blame her." Lucy smiled as Natsu let out a chuckle and pulled out his keys.

"Let's get out of here then before we are fashionably late." He waved at Erza and stepped out of the house, Lucy following behind him.

* * *

Lucy couldn't handle the strain on her poor mind right now. Trying to pay attention in chemistry was nearly impossible when you are still fighting a slight hangover, plus it didn't help that her attention was focused on the boy who was sitting in the front of class. It sucked to be here right now, especially since Cana was missing and she wasn't allowed to sit next to Natsu since he would 'get distracted' in his terms. At least she knew that she was on his mind as much as he was on hers.

It was strange how quickly things changed between them. It was almost natural to have him by her side – talking, walking, and laughing together. It all just seemed too… in sync. Like they were meant to be friends. She could see a strong friendship forming between them, and she wanted to start spending more time with him

There was just one teeny little problem…

She still hadn't gotten his number.

Staring down at him, she saw him diligently taking notes on the class and wondered briefly to herself if he would mind if she stole his notes after today since her brain couldn't focus on anything else at the moment. She looked down at the board in front of the classroom, wondering just what they were going over and her eyes widened at what was written on the board.

'First exam on Monday!' Lucy gripped her head tightly in between her hands and moved her hands down her face. Oh man, oh man! She was in such deep shit! How was she supposed to learn all of this stuff in just over a weekend? How long had he been talking about this exam coming up!? She was so screwed.

Huffing to herself, she just laid her head down on the desk and groaned into her sleeve. Looks like she would be dedicating herself to the library for the rest of this week and over the weekend as well. She rubbed her temples and glared down at Professor Makarov. This was going to suck big time.

By the end of the class, Lucy still had her head down on her desk as she waited for everyone else to leave the classroom. She felt a presence next to her and she looked up to see Natsu grinning down at her. "You alright Luce?"

She gave him a subtle nod and stood up, flinging her backpack over her shoulders. "As good as any stressed out college student can be." She moved some of her hair behind her ear as she walked out of the large lecture hall beside him.

"Ah, so you just found out about the first exam today too huh?" He caught her nervous smile from the corner of his eyes. "If you want, I could give you my notes over the past few weeks that Gramps gave to me to catch me up on the material."

She perked up at that and smiled widely at him. She grabbed one of his hands in hers and seemed to have a sparkling look in her eyes as she looked up at him. "Really!? You would do that for me? You have no idea how big of a help that would be for me!"

Natsu sweat dropped and just chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-yeah sure Luce. It's no big deal at all. I can really just give you my notebook since I'll be helping to grade the tests instead of taking it." He pulled his backpack around and pulled out a very used notebook, handing it to her. "That first marked section has everything you will need to know for the first exam. If you need any help understanding anything, don't be afraid to ask for help. I'm pretty much free besides during practice times."

Lucy was absent mindingly listening to him, nodding her head to what he was saying. She was reading over his notes and couldn't help but to trace his hand writing with her finger. She was supposed to learn _all of this_ for Monday? She was screwed. Screwed. Screwed. Screwed. She perked up at him as she heard him repeat her name over again. "Huh? What is it Natsu?"

Natsu's face heated up as he saw her looking up at him through her long eyelashes. Her curious deep, brown eyes were just a little too much for him to take and he looked away, gripping his scarf. He brought it up to cover his blushing cheeks. "I-I said that I think it's best if we exchange numbers. This way if you have question you can contact me directly, yah know?" He was stammering and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. Taking a chance, he looked down to see Lucy having a similar blush on her cheeks as she finally seemed to be comprehending what he asked.

He was finally asking for her number! That saved her the trouble of being an embarrassed puddle of goo to ask him for his number! She pulled her phone out of her jacket's pocket and held it out to him. "H-here. I agree this will be easier on both of us."

Taking his phone out of his pocket, he handed her his phone as well, taking hers into his own hand as he swiftly entered his number. He grinned as he placed an emoji flame next to his name and they then swapped phones back. Looking down at her name, his eyes softened looking at the star emoji she placed next to her own name. "Lucy Heartfilia. It fits you Luce." He grinned down at her.

Her face blushed as she looked away from him. He decided he liked seeing her like this when he was the cause for it.

* * *

How in the hell was she supposed to study this!? Lucy slammed her head down on the library desk in front of her, making Levy jump a little in her seat. "Levy-chan how can I remember all this before Monday? Chemistry is hard enough but Natsu's hand writing is making it even harder to learn all of it! That idiot didn't mention that he had horrible, nearly impossible to read hand writing! Plus it's already Thursday! I have 3 more days to learn this stuff!" She groaned into her arms and heard Levy giggle from across the table.

"You know Lu-chan, you can always text him and ask for more than just his notes. I'm sure he would be willing to help you out." Levy tried her best to calm down her fidgeting best friend, but it didn't really seem to be helping her out much.

"I wanted to try and make it through this first exam on my own. Show him I am smarter than the average student when it comes to this stuff… But it's like a foreign language!" Her remark died on Levy's ears as she just gave her look. "Right. Sorry. You would know all about that wouldn't you Levy-chan?"

Levy just giggled into her hands and closed up her Russia textbook for the night. "Listen Lu-chan, it's already almost two in the morning and we are both done for the night. I can tell you won't be able to focus on this anymore, so why don't we head home?"

Lucy nodded and packed up her things. Walking out of the brightly lit library at two am never ceased to amaze her with how many other students were still in the library at this time. She was lucky she didn't have her chemistry class tomorrow since the exam was on Monday. There was a study session being held by Natsu on Sunday she was planning on attending along with Cana. She didn't understand how Cana was able to always pass all her tests with how drunk she was. Cana hardly ever studied, and she would bet all of her money right now that Cana hadn't studied at all for the exam yet. She was probably drunk and out with their friends right now. Lucy sighed and pulled out her phone, rereading over the conversation she had with Natsu earlier.

' _You goin' out tonight Luce?'_

' _No, sadly_ _. I will be in the library studying for this chemistry exam!'_

' _Well that sucks. You need any help? I can ditch the ice bastard and hang with you instead.'_

' _No, that's alright. Thank you though! You go hang out with the stripper while Levy and I suffer in the quietness of the library.'_

' _Alright, if you say so Luce. Text yah later!'_

She was really wishing she could have gone out with him and the rest of the gang. Erza had texted both her and Levy in a group chat before saying that they should come to pitchers- a thing held at another popular bar across the street from Tenrou Island that had a special on Thursday nights called, 'Pitchers'. Basically, it was two dollar pitchers of their special drinks that promised to give you a killer hangover the next day.

She glanced down to see Levy texting back Gajeel and she smiled to herself. That's right – Levy-chan had her first date with this guy tomorrow. "Oh Levy-chan, I just thought of this! What are you going to wear tomorrow?"

Levy looked up at Lucy, startled that she was reading her texts over her shoulder. "Oh I don't know Lu-chan… I was trying to decide that all week. Care to help me?"

"Of course Levy-chan! I think I already know the perfect outfit for you! I'll even help you do your hair for tomorrow!" Lucy was really accepting towards this date now after 'matching' with Gajeel on Tinder and him constantly asking questions about Levy. He was a real sweetheart even though he looked like a total thug on his Tinder pictures.

"Thank you Lu-chan!" Levy smiled brightly up at her and the two of them quickly came to a stop in front of a large crowd that was gathered around what seemed to be a fight in front of Tenrou Island. "What's going on here?"

Lucy, also curious, pushed her way through the crowd and stopped at the scene in front of her, her eyes widening. Natsu and Gray had their hands gripping at each other's necks and they both were pretty beaten up already. Had they been fighting? Natsu threw back his fist, just as Gray did and they both slammed their fists into each other's cheeks. They both staggered back and Natsu growled at him as he wiped the blood trailing down from his mouth with the back of his hand. Gray seemed to spit out the blood and held up his fists again in front of him.

"You still wanna go flame brain? I can go at this all night."

"Such your trap ice princess. You look like you'll go down at the next hit yah bastard!" Lucy was about to step in when suddenly both Natsu's and Gray's heads were smashed together by an enraged Erza.

"Both of you will stop this nonsense now! Or would you like to get arrested again!?" Erza turned her eyes towards the crowd, and Lucy along with the rest of them flinched at the look in her eyes. "Beat it! All of you! There is nothing to see here!" Her eyes watched everyone closely as they all walked off. Still holding onto the back of their shirts, she was about to drag them away until her eyes landed on Lucy and Levy. "Ah! Lucy! Levy! Care to help me drag these two home?"

Lucy grumbled but nodded nonetheless and took Natsu's drunk form in her hands. She felt him place almost his full weight on her and she staggered a bit under it. "Come on Natsu. Let's get you home okay?" She thought she felt his shudder under her touch, with what sounded like a, 'Luuucceh?' as she wrapped one of his arms over her shoulders. Seeing Levy help out Erza with Gray, since both Gray and Erza were equally as drunk as Natsu, they set out towards the boys' house.

* * *

Lucy dumped Natsu on his bed and she sighed, rubbing over her face as she watched him turn around to stare up at her. "'m sorry Luce." She gave him a slight smile before waving him off.

"It's no big deal Natsu. Just get some rest okay? It's really late and I need to head home." Before she could take another step away from his bed, she felt him grip her wrist and tug her back towards him. She landed on top of him on the bed, both of her legs on either side of his as she straddled him in his lap. She gasped as she felt his arms wrap around her waist and his face go into the crook of her neck, slightly kissing her there as she tried not to let out a moan. What was he doing to her? "N-natsu please! You're drunk! You shouldn't be doing this!" She felt his arms tighten his hold as she pushed away from his chest.

"But Luuucyy! I want you to stay here." He whined into her ear and she groaned feeling his lips press against her pulse on her neck. "Please Luce…? Please?"

She almost had agreed to it when she was suddenly removed from his arms and Erza now stood in between her and Natsu. With a glint in her eyes, Erza turned towards Lucy after throwing Natsu back into bed. "Natsu – bed. Now. Lucy, we are leaving." Lucy nodded and left the room, giggling a little at hearing Natsu groan but agreed to Erza's demand.

Lucy walked down the stairs and out the front door, Erza trailing after her but slowed down as she saw Mira standing there before the door. After Lucy and Levy were out of earshot, Erza grinned towards Mirajane and nodded. "I have another project for you Mira."

Mirajane perked up at this and raised an elegant eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that Erza?"

"Operation NaLu." Erza and Mira's faces seemed to reflect each other's as a new devious plan seemed to be forming between the two of them. "Let it begin."

* * *

Thank you all for reading more of my fanfic and please don't be a strange and review!

I love getting reviews from people since it brightens my day knowing what parts my readers liked and disliked! :D


	5. Chapter 5: The Start of a War

Here it is! Chapter 5!  
This was probably my favorite chapter to write so far, so I hope everyone else enjoys it just as much as I do! :D  
Please review and let me know what you think!

* * *

 **Chapter 5: The Start of a War**

"Tell me again how I got dragged into this?" Natsu huffed as he pulled his car keys out of his pocket and looked down at them. "I'm not so sure I feel comfortable with you driving my baby. Why the hell does it have to be my car anyway? Why can't you take Ice Dicks'?"

"Mines in the shop fire for brains. I told you this last week." Gray waved him off from his spot on the couch, his hands holding his phone up above his head as he played the game on his phone. "Just give Gajeel your keys. I'm still shocked you like to drive the damn thing so much with your weird motion sickness disease you two have." He heard Natsu scuff and he grinned to himself. "Seriously, why do you get so sick whenever you are in a moving vehicle? Not only is it you, it's like everyone in this damn household is like that. You, Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, and even Laxus who hides it better than any of you bozos."

"It's not like I can help it. I've been this way since I can remember." Natsu glared towards Gray. "At least I don't get sick driving my own car. When I'm in control of the directions I can control my motion sickness so much better." He heard Gray snicker and he just groaned while turning back towards Gajeel. "Seriously, don't do anything to her or so help me…"

Gray smirked towards Natsu, lifting his head up to give him a knowing look. "He might just christen the back seat up a bit for you since you haven't yet." He ducked his head when Natsu tried to backhand his head and he let out a laugh. "I'm only kidding!"

"You better not have sex in my back seat or so help me Gajeel…" He held the keys up in front of Gajeel and he just grinned as he snatched them out of his hand.

"Don't worry Salamander, Shrimp isn't that kind of girl, so I promise not to do anything too bad in it. Gihi." Natsu deflated instantly but nodded nonetheless. "Welp, be seein' yah folks later. I got a date to get on." Gajeel walked out the door humming to himself one of the weird tunes he came up with himself.

"I can't believe Gajeel, of all people, is going on a date at this moment." Natsu nodded in agreement to Gray's statement as he flipped over backwards on the couch to lay side-by-side to Gray. Their position was exactly the same – both of their legs up on the back of the couch while their heads hung off the edge.

"You're telling me. I can't believe Levy agreed to go out with him." Natsu cringed a little but saw Gray visibly blanched at this.

"What a weird couple. Enough about them – what about tonight pyro? It's Friday night and here I am stuck at home lying next to you. Not exactly how I want to be spending my night..." Natsu hummed in agreement before flipping backwards off the couch and pulled out his cell phone.

"I could text Erza, see what she's up to, but I'm pretty sure she's with Jellal. Lucy and Cana are studying so they are out of the equation…" He hummed to himself as he placed his chin in his hand, looking through his contacts. His scrolling came to a stop as he looked at Lucy's name in his phone and a sly grin began to spread across his face.

"Oi, oi! I know that face! You just thought of something awesome didn't you?" Gray sat up quickly and looked at Natsu expectantly.

"What do you say we go have ourselves a little pantie raiding?" Natsu looked up from his phone and Gray's face said it all. He was in.

* * *

"Ahhh! Levy-chan you look so darn cute!" Lucy squealed in delight as Levy spun around in a circle in front of her.

"You don't think it's too much Lu-chan?" Levy stopped spinning and glanced down at her outfit. She was wearing a light orange dress that matched the headband in her hair that Lucy had styled to her liking, with white boots that matched her jacket that went over her entire outfit. Orange was Levy's favorite color, but she was worried it would be too much for Gajeel to handle.

"Nonsense Levy! You look amazing! I just know Gajeel will be stunned when he sees you now!" Lucy clapped her hands together and bounded on Levy's bed excitedly.

"Hmm, hmm Levy. I agree with Lucy. You look ravishing tonight. Gajeel will surely want to take you home." Erza had that star struck look in her eyes again and a fierce blush across her cheeks.

Levy's face heated up just as much as Erza's and she placed her hands on her cheeks, shaking her head back and forth. "Oh no Lu-chan! He can't think I want to do… th-that! I'm not ready! I haven't even really met him yet and he will think that I…? Ahh! No I have to change now!" Levy frantically raced around her room while Lucy gave a glare at Erza who was still off in her own dream land.

"Levy calm down. Erza didn't mean that. You know how she gets." Lucy grabbed Levy as she paced past her once again and pulled her down on the bed, fixing the bow in the back of her dress. "Stay calm. You know Gajeel better than that to think he would do something like that on the first date. If anything, expect a first kiss or a heated make out session, but definitely not sex." Lucy's own face heated up at the thoughts of sex. She personally had never done it before, but what she heard from Cana and Erza,it sounded like it was a really great experience – especially with someone you loved.

Hearing excursions about sex, coming mostly from Cana's experiences, she was told that her first time was a senior in high school with her boyfriend after prom. They both were drunk at an after party and ended up doing it in her dad's bed where she got caught. Lucy was shocked to hear that her dad just swiftly turned around and walked out of the room screaming something about 'his little girl was growing up'. Lucy's dad would have locked her away and killed the boy with the shotgun she knew he kept under his bed.

Erza had lost hers to Jellal their freshman year when they randomly met again at a party thanks to Mira inviting Erza (who lived in his dorming hall) to a hockey party. Erza and Jellal were really great childhood friends and Erza admitted to crushing on him even way back then. Lucy didn't know all the details, but she had heard Erza mention once that she and Jellal were in the same orphanage until adopted away by separate families. It was like a tragic star crossed lover's story that brought them back together again. After their first meeting at the party, Erza and Jellal had begun to go out on dates, and eventually became something more. Erza admitted their first time was a little awkward, since both she and Jellal were beyond nervous, but they made it work. And now here they are – three years later still dating.

Lucy would never admit it, but she was jealous of their relationship. She couldn't help but to want a boyfriend from time to time just to cuddle with and have someone to constantly be able to call up just to watch movies and go on dates… amongst other things. Lucy's face heated up when the thought of Natsu holding her again crossed her mind and she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

No. No. No. She needed to stop thinking about him this way. He was just a friend.

A very hot, single, and absolutely lovely to look at friend.

But just a friend nonetheless.

Could she really say that when she had been having really erotic dreams about him lately? She couldn't deny the fact that he was hot, so it made sense that she was having these dreams about him, but it was getting to the point where she constantly dreamed about doing _it_ with him. She had no experience in that department and it worried her. He was probably a god in speaking the language between the sheets and here she was… the 21 Year Old Virgin not knowing what the fuck she was supposed to do.

She wasn't so inexperienced to the point where she didn't know anything about the subject, she was just a little awkward when this certain topic came up. She hated to admit it but at least she wasn't the only virgin in the household. Both her and Levy held onto their virginities sacredly and the day one of them finally lost their V-Card they were going to open up that bottle of wine they had been saving just for that occasion.

"Oh Lu-chan he's here! Are you sure I look okay? What if he doesn't like orange? Oh I'm so nervous!" Lucy was pulled out of her thoughts as she glanced at Levy who was checking over herself in the mirror once again.

A small smile crossed over Lucy's lips as she watched her best friend. She loved seeing her like this – happiness seemed to be radiating from her and it was all thanks to Gajeel. "Go get him Levy. You look fantastic and I'm sure he will think the same exact thing." Levy smiled at Lucy and ran out the door.

"Bye Lu! Have fun at the library with Cana! Don't stay up too late!" Lucy huffed as she walked out of Levy's room and into her own to pull on a sweatshirt and grab her backpack. Off to the library she would go indeed. She had a test to study for.

Unfortunately.

* * *

Levy straightened out her dress in the front seat of the car as she turned to look at Gajeel again. He was a lot burlier than he looked in his pictures in person but she couldn't help but to feel safe next to him. His smirk on his lips as he met her gaze caused a bright blush to flush her cheeks as she looked away quickly. Straightening her dress again, she couldn't help but to think that he must find her super awkward.

"Yer sure are a fidgety one, aren't yah shrimp?" Gajeel grinned down at her as he watched her puff out her cheeks and cross her arms over her chest.

"I can't help it that I feel nervous around a big guy like you. Tell me again why I agreed to this?" Gajeel turned back to the road with a grin pulling on his lips.

"That's the shrimp I know. I like you feisty. So much more my type." Levy's eyes widened as she turned to look at Gajeel. A smile played on her lips and she uncrossed her arms.

"Thanks Gajeel…" Tentatively, she placed her hand on top of his that was on the stick shift.

He looked down at their hands and grasped her small, slender hand in his big, rough one. "Anytime shrimp. Now, where do you wanna eat? The drive-in doesn't start for another hour so we got time." He felt her hand tighten around his and he couldn't help but smile.

"I'm in the mood for anything actually. So you pick."

"Alright, I know just the place for yer shrimp."

* * *

Natsu and Gray watched Lucy and Erza leave their house from the shadows that the big bushes provided. They grinned at each other seeing that no one was left home and they rushed towards the front door. Jiggling the door knob, Gray groaned.

"They did lock it. Damn it, I thought this was going to be an easy one this time… Natsu what should-?" He stopped short noticing that Natsu wasn't next to him. He searched around until he heard a chuckle from up above him and he looked up to see Natsu grinning down at him from a window sill. "What the fuck dude? Did you just scale the house? How are you able to do this shit?" He let out a soft laugh as Natsu just shrugged and wrapped his scarf around his head, covering his face.

"I've told you before, I'm like a ninja in this department. Nin-nin!" Natsu stuck up his two fingers and made the noise that supposedly ninjas made. Gray frowned and threw a pebble at him.

"Alright enough of this pyro, get down here and open up the front door. I'm not risking my ass scaling the house like you."

"As long as you put your shirt back on, I'll be right down stripper."

"Fuck this shit! How does this keep happening?!"

After finally getting let into the house with a promise to hold off his stripping habit until they got home, Gray and Natsu made their first stop – Cana's room. Raiding through her dresser to find her panties was an easy job since they had done this to her before. They both were still shocked to see just how little of underwear she actually had and what she did own had barely any material to it.

"You know Natsu, you should have just asked Cana to help you out with your v-card problem. I know Cana would be more than happy to help you out." Gray held up a thong and threw it towards Natsu who was stuffing the underwear into a bag. "Her ass is pretty bomb in these types of underwear." He flung another one at him which landed on his head.

"I think I'll hold off on your sloppy seconds ice princess." He yanked the underwear off his head and pulled the bag over his shoulder. "Come on, let's go get Erza's now. I wanna get in and out of her room as quickly as possible." Natsu left the room with Gray in tow and climbed up the stairs.

"I can agree with you on that one. Her room creeps me out with all of that armor and weaponry she has. How does Jellal stay over here all the time?" He opened the door to her room and cringed noticing all the pointiy, shiny objects littering her walls. "I'm scared she'll shove one of these things up my ass, or worse, cut off my family jewels with this shit. Are you sure this is a good idea?" He glanced towards Natsu who was already shoveling a large amount of underwear into the bag.

"I don't really care at the moment. We'll face the consequences later. Just help me out here. I forgot just how much underwear this woman has. It's ridiculous! Look at this! Three drawers full? Why does she need this much underwear?" Natsu groaned shoving more underwear into the bag as Gray flopped onto the bed. "Why aren't you helping me?"

"This was your idea pyro. I'm not touching Erza's stuff. I feel like it's cursed and I'm just going to die anyway once she catches us." Gray pulled out his phone feeling it vibrate and he cringed. "Dude, it's like she has a sixth sense when it comes to us. She just texted me saying, ' _Why do I have the sudden need to punch both you and Natsu in the head?'_ She fucking knows! Let's get the fuck out of here."

Natsu didn't have to be told that twice. He grabbed the full bag and ran out the room and across the hall into Levy's room. "We have to make sure to dump all of Levy's underwear on Gajeel's bed. I think he would be in heaven." Natsu opened her drawers to find her pantie stash and quickly dumped it into the bag. "Shit, she wears a lot of bows on her ass." Natsu pulled one out to glance at it. "Why do girls like bows so much?"

"Well you know what they say, when you have a gift you're supposed to put a bow on it. She must know that she has a bombass ass." Gray shrugged as Natsu's face heated up with a blush and he glowered at Gray. "What? It's true. Don't tell me you didn't see how awesome her ass looked in her jeans the other night?"

When Natsu didn't reply, Gray grinned and moved towards him. "Oh that's right… How could I forget? You were too focused on Lucy to even notice anyone else. By the way, I forgot to ask you how it was losing the v-card the other night with her." Natsu's face heated up as he looked away and mumbled something. "What was that pyro?"

"I said I didn't have sex you moron. I told you I am not losing it to just some random girl." Natsu growled and walked into the last stop of the night – Lucy's room. He glanced around it until his eyes settled on the dresser near her bed and he stomped over towards it and pulled it open. His cheeks instantly heated up as he spotted all the _lace._ She wore all this? Oh god, she would look so great in these… Natsu couldn't help but to stare and go off to his own dreamland thinking of Lucy walking around in a pair of red lacey underwear.

"Seriously Natsu? You had her in your bed and you didn't fuck her? What is your problem? She's drop dead gorgeous dude. Come on." Gray stopped his ranting when he spotted the glare Natsu sent his way. "What? It's true. You gotta do it sometime."

"When did you become such a manwhore like that fucker Loke, Gray? Seriously. Drop it. Lucy is not an object and I'm not going to fuck her just to satisfy your need of me not being a virgin anymore." Natsu growled out in between his teeth and turned towards the main goal. He started moving her underwear into his bag as he continued to swallow thickly. Did she really wear all this? If she did he would love to see her ass in every single one of these pairs. Dear god this was torture to him and he was started to second guess his last statement towards Gray.

"Sorry dude. That's not what I meant by that but no need to get so angry at me." Gray leaned against the wall with a smirk on his lips as he watched Natsu struggle with going through Lucy's underwear. "You having a good time over there?"

Natsu cringed as he moved the last piece of underwear into the bag and zipped it up. "I'm fine asshole. Let's get going before someone comes home." He suddenly froze in the doorway when he heard a key move into the front door and it opening up. "Oh fuck." He glanced towards Gray who quickly moved into Lucy's bedroom and shut the door quietly behind him. "Shit dude what do we do?"

"Why are you asking me that!? I have no idea! Fuck! I think its Cana. Wasn't she supposed to be at the library with Lucy?" Gray turned to Natsu who was halfway out of the window. "What the fuck are you doing!? I am not going out through the window!"

"What else are we going to do? Cana's room is on the first floor dumbass! We gotta go out this way! Stop being a pussy and come on!" Natsu let go of the window sill and dropped to the ground below, landing gracefully. "Come on ice princess, I'll catch you." He held his arms up for Gray and grinned up at him.

"Shut up you fucktard! I can do this myself!" Gray leaned out the window and gulped. How did Natsu make that look so easy? He pulled himself out of the window and held onto the sill before letting go and falling to the ground. He landed on the heels of his feet, causing him to fall backwards after hitting the ground and slam his butt into the hard ground below. "Damn it that hurt." He stood up rubbing his behind and glared at Natsu who was rolling on the ground laughing.

"Y-you let out a little scream. Th-that was t-too funny! Hahaha!" Natsu wiped away the tears in his eyes as he just laid there before getting kicked in the side by Gray. "Ow hey! Not my fault you're an ungraceful bastard!" He stood up and dusted off his pants before grinning at Gray. "Come on pansy, let's get home before we draw too much attention to ourselves."

"You do that on a daily basis with that weird _pink_ hair color."

"It's clearly _salmon_ and you're one to talk with that weird stripping habit of yours."

"Touché."

* * *

Levy ducked her head back into Gajeel's chest as the horror film showed another graphic gory scene. Why had she agreed to see this movie again? She was never one for blood and gore, but Gajeel seemed so animated about seeing it that she couldn't say no.

She was totally regretting that now.

She groaned as his chest rumbled beneath her in a deep chuckle. She heard him munching on the popcorn he bought at the concession stand and was wondering how he was able to keep that down while watching these gory scenes.

"Yer okay shrimp? I'm starting to think yer aren't as brave as you say yer are." Gajeel let out another deep chuckle as she hid her face more into his scarf – but hey, he wasn't complaining. This was the exact reason why he wanted to see the horror film. Just to get her closer to him. He would have to thank Loke later for telling him about this drive-in movie theater place.

"I'm fine Gajeel… I just don't like these types of movies. I can't handle all the gore and eep!" She hid her face back into his chest as a particular beheading scene was shown. "How can you watch this stuff!? I'm going to have nightmares for weeks!" She heard him chuckle but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tighter against him. She finally stopped shaking when he placed a chaste kiss to the crown of her head. Levy looked up to see Gajeel staring at the screen of the movie and she sighed, leaning her head back into his chest.

"I'll protect you shrimp, you can count on that." Gajeel glanced down at her as she blushed in response.

"I'll hold you to that Gajeel."

* * *

Lucy was not a happy camper when she got home from the library for a multitude of reasons. One, Cana totally ditched her to go drinking instead study for the exam like she promised. Two, their front door was left wide open and Cana was clearly in her room with some guy. Three, they both were screamers. Four, her bedroom window was left wide open and her room was now freezing cold. And five, all of her underwear was missing.

She scratched the top of her head once again and looked around the room for the fifth time she stepped into her room. Where had all of her underwear gone? It's not like some thief could just come waltzing through her room and steal all of it… unless that really was the case. Her eyes widened and she ran into Levy's room to search through her dresser and sure enough – all of her underwear was missing as well. She pulled out her phone and sent Levy a quick text telling her that Cana left the front door wide open and now all of their underwear was missing.

Levy quickly texted her back saying she would be home in about an hour. Lucy glanced at her time on her screen and her eyes widened. It was already two in the morning and Levy was still out? Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Lucy dragged her feet into her room and sprawled out on her bed. Tonight was just not her night. Being ditched to study in the library alone on a Friday night wasn't very motivational and she still couldn't figure out these certain problems that she knew would be all over the test on Monday.

She debated texting Natsu and asking him for help over these problems. He told her she could come to him for help, but she didn't want to be pushy and ask for help just on the first test. This was supposed to be the easiest part of the material. Why was it so difficult for her? She was normally the smart one when it came to school work but chemistry evaded her.

Which brought her to her next interesting topic – how was Natsu so good at this? It frankly didn't make any sense to her since he seemed so dense in everything but supposedly he was smart enough in the subject to be a TA.

She heard a car pull into their makeshift driveway and she got up to look out her window to see a bright red car – obviously Natsu's – pull into her driveway. She watched as Levy clamored out of the car and walked over to the driver's side window. She couldn't see from the angle, but it was totally obvious that Levy gave Gajeel a kiss goodbye. Lucy squealed and ran out of her room to tackle Levy in a big hug as soon as she walked in through the door.

"How was your date!? I totally just saw you kiss him! Ah Levy tell me all about it!"

"Lu did you totally just creep on me from your window!? This is so embarrassing!" Even though she was embarrassed, Levy gave Lucy a big hug back and they spun around together in the middle of the room.

The door to Cana's room opened and she stepped out in only a big t-shirt that barely covered any of her assets. "Why are you two being so loud? And do either of you have any idea why all of my underwear is missing?"

Lucy turned to look at Cana before glaring at her. "I came home from the library and the front door was left wide open. Not only that, but both mine and Levy's underwear is missing as well."

"Sounds like you guys got robbed by the pantie thief." A tall, muscular and fair skinned man walked out of Cana's room and leaned against the doorway only clad in his boxers. He had black hair that was slicked back into a high bun on top of his head. A large grin played on his lips as Lucy turned to glare at him. "Hey now it's not my fault all of your panties are gone missy. I might be at fault for the front door being left open, but the fact of the matter is is that all of your underwear is missing. Not just yours – meaning it was stolen before we came home."

"Who even are you?" Lucy gave him a critical eye as the man busted out laughing and sauntered across the room towards her. He gave a mock bow and lifted his eyes up to meet hers.

"Bacchus Groh at your service my lady. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances." He grinned down at Lucy as he straightened out his body and turned to walk back into Cana's room. "Hope you find your panties ladies. Until next time." He pulled Cana back into the room with him and shut the door behind them.

"What a weird guy…" Levy said as she turned to look at the front door as it opened to reveal Erza. "Oh Erza! We have a problem…"

"Huh? Oh Levy, Lucy. You both are still up. What is the problem? Do you need me to beat up Gajeel? Did he treat you badly?"

Levy shook her head no but giggled at Erza's fierce facial expression. "No, no! Gajeel was more than gentleman like…" Her face flushed but she continued on. "Actually, it seems that someone broke into our house and stole all of our underwear…"

Erza's face went from proud about hearing about Gajeel to absolutely stone faced as she glanced around the house. "I see… I think I know who the culprits are."

"How do you already know? Has this happened before?" Lucy asked with curiosity yet anger laced her voice. She was going to give a big Lucy Kick to whoever's ass it was that stole her underwear!

"Hmm, hmm. It was definitely those two boys. They did the same exact thing last year to both Cana and I when we went out one night."

"Those two boys? Who do you mean Erza?"

"Natsu and Gray of course. Those two like to make the most trouble out of anyone that I know. Natsu is extremely skilled in stealth too, so it wouldn't surprise me that he was able to scale our house and sneak in without anyone finding out." Erza watched as both Levy and Lucy's eyes widened. "We will have to get them back somehow…"

Lucy nodded and paced around the room a bit. "But what can we take from them that they would be bribed enough to give us back our underwear?"

Erza's smirk that formed on her face clearly showed she knew just what to take. "We take their refrigerator of course. Those two boys can't live without their food… So here's what we'll do…"

* * *

When Gajeel had come home from his date, he was definitely not expecting to see a large amount of a girl's underwear thrown across his bed. Or the fact that it all belonged to Levy. He was half tempted to stash it all away and keep it to bribe the shrimp later on for another kiss, but the other half of him told him to text her and give it all back. In the end, he ended up just stashing it all away for a later time to think about it and went to bed. He would deal with this in the morning.

* * *

Hope you liked it!  
Read and review 333 :D


	6. Chapter 6: Testing Days

Next chapter is finally up! Thanks for all of you for being so patient and cheering me on!  
Please read and review lovelies!~ :D

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Testing Days**

The doors to the auditorium flung open as a mass of students exited the large room. Cana waltzed out of the room, stretching her arms high above her head as she glanced back behind her to see Lucy dragging her feet across the ground. Lucy's head was hung low, her arms swinging at her sides as she walked.

"Why...? Why was that so much harder than I thought it was going to be?" Lucy whispered to herself as she looked up to see Cana grinning at her. "Why are you so chipper? You hardly studied for this exam! How can you be so confident?" Lucy didn't mean to, but she was growling out by the end of her questioning. She was just so frustrated with herself and this class.

She had studied countless hours all week and during the weekend to understand the material of this damn chemistry class just for all of it to backfire in her face. She probably second guessed herself on most of the multiple choice questions for this exam and that's not including the written portion of it all with the stupid math equations they had to complete.

She might be forced to ask Natsu for help after all.

Cana's laughter brought her out of her thoughts and she sent a glare her way. "Oh Lucy. You don't get it do you? I never study for anything. I feel like school just comes easily for me. If I fail, then I'll _try_ harder next time." She moved her fingers in the quotation marks symbol when saying the word try, emphasizing that she really didn't mean that.

"I still say you were crazy for not studying at all. I feel like I totally bombed that…" Lucy sighed and walked a bit faster to catch up with Cana. "How do you think you did?"

"You mean you really thought it was that hard? I felt like I aced it." Cana watched as Lucy's eyes grew wide and she gaped at her. "What? I really didn't find the information confusing. Maybe chemistry just comes natural to me like writing does for you?"

Lucy thought about that and couldn't help but to agree. Science wasn't her strong subject, but she wasn't horrible at it. Maybe it was just the college class getting to her head.

Or the fact that a stupidly hot, pink haired boy distracted her most of the time during class.

She suddenly realized that Natsu wasn't with them like normal and turned around to look around for him. "Wait, Cana. Where is Natsu? He is normally with us."

"He told us to go on ahead remember? You must have been in your slump when he came up to tell us. He said he had to stay behind to go over grading for the tests with Professor Grampa." Cana shrugged her shoulders and continued on. "He also asked if we wanted to go to the hockey game on Friday or Saturday this weekend."

"Huh? Hockey? I didn't take him for a hockey fan…"

"Lucy… he's on the hockey team here at MU."

"Eh!? What!? Since when!?"

"Since he was recruited back from high school! You didn't know this? Have you never seen him wearing his hockey stuff? Or heard of the dynamic duo since freshman year?"

"To tell you the truth Cana… I've never been to a hockey game here before…."

Cana stopped abruptly and turned to stare at Lucy. "Never been… to a… hockey game… before?" She let her dead brain process this before she grabbed Lucy by her shoulders and shook her. "NEVER BEEN TO A HOCKEY GAME BEFORE!? It's the greatest sport to watch! Especially when we have a good looking team as we do! I can't believe… Oh my gosh! I am telling everyone that we are going to the hockey game both days this weekend. You need to be educated on this sport. They are the best sporting team we have here at Magnolia University!"

Lucy numbly nodded in answer as she was way too dizzy to even think of words to say in response. Who knew that Cana was passionate about something else other than alcohol?

When her mind finally cleared she realized that she and Cana were already in their favorite little café area on campus. Normally after chemistry before her English writing courses and Cana's other classes, they would stop by the café to grab something to eat. She sat down across from Cana as she looked around the small quaint café. "Say Cana, do you know when we are getting back at Natsu and Gray for going on their 'panty run' as they called it? I know Erza has been planning this whole elaborate thing, right?"

"Hmmm, I don't really care about getting back at them. I hardly ever wear underwear as is anyway."

"What do you mean you don't wear underwear!? Do you mean that you…?"

Cana grinned brilliantly at Lucy. "You guessed it! I go commando most of the time. Especially during the winter where all I wear is yoga pants and tights. Why bother with underwear when you can see through the tight stuff? I find it pointless."

"That's why you wear thongs Cana! Not go… commando!"

"Oh hush Lucy. Besides, I don't like thongs. I'll wear them, but they just get stuck up your ass. I'd rather have my yoga pants up my crack rather than my underwear. Talk about a major wedgie."

Lucy looked away, a blush on her cheeks. "Okay, enough of that mental image please. I could have done without that description."

Cana laughed loudly and grinned back at Lucy. "Whatever you say. You should be used to me by now girlfriend." Her attention caught on something else and she nodded her head in the direction behind Lucy. "Hey, don't look now, but I think you have an admirer."

Lucy whipped her head around behind her while Cana screamed, "I said not to look you idiot!" But Lucy's eyes met with a pair of brilliant blue ones that screamed the color of a clear ocean. She recognized this girl faintly from the night she went out with Natsu and Gray at the big bar on campus. What did Gray say her name was…? Jovie? Jacey? Juvie? Wait! Juvia! That was it. She was working at the bar that night and called her a weird name…

Lucy realized that she had been staring so long that Juvia was now in front of her. "Oh uh, hi Juvia! I don't know if you remember me or not but-"

"Juvia would never forget about love rival. Gray-sama deserves more than a blonde haired bimbo." Juvia's face was calm and collected as she glanced at Lucy then at Cana. Her eyes flared up even more at seeing Cana. "Love rival number two? Juvia is most displeased. At least love rival number one danced with pink haired male instead of Gray-sama. Juvia is most displeased at seeing love rival number two."

Both Lucy and Cana glanced from each other to back at Juvia a few times before Cana busted out laughing and grabbed Juvia into a headlock. "You! Hahaha! I like you! Gray-sama! What a hoot! Oh man, you totally have to hang out with us then on Friday and Saturday if you like Gray that much. We are going to the hockey games both nights if you want to attend and watch some real action with your dear _Gray-sama_."

Juvia's eyes widened and she nodded furiously at Cana. "J-Juvia would be most pleased to attend the hockey game! Juvia did not know Gray-sama was on the hockey team."

"He's a brilliant player. He's a natural on the ice." Cana grinned at Juvia before leaning in and whispering. "Plus, he's extra beautiful when he's all sweaty and glistening during the games."

Juvia's face heated up and she seemed to melt into a puddle before springing back up. "Juvia would love to attend! Please, may Juvia know love rivals' names and numbers?"

"I'm Cana Alberona. Here, hand me your phone and I'll enter my number." Juvia handed her phone over before facing Lucy.

"My name is Lucy Heartfilia! Nice to meet you Juvia…?" She questioned her realizing she only knew her first name.

"Juvia Lockster. It is wonderful to meet both of you." She bowed lightly and smiled when handed her phone back after Lucy placed her own number into her phone. "Juvia will be in contact!" With that, Juvia turned away and walked out of the café.

"Well that was sure interesting." Cana watched her walk away before turning towards Lucy. "Looks like _Gray-sama_ is gonna have another knew fangirl around town huh?" She snorted out a chuckle at the term Gray-sama. She wouldn't get sick of that.

Lucy giggled into her hand before nodding. "I've only met him a few times, but it seems his stripping habit gets a lot of girls' attentions huh?"

"That was what caught mine, that's for sure." Cana added nonchalantly. She noticed Lucy's questioning gaze and smiled at her. "That's right, you don't know about how we all became friends, do you?" Seeing her nod, Cana continued. "Well, during mine and Erza's sophomore year, we lived together with Mirajane and Evergreen, Elfman's girlfriend in case you didn't know, in a quad in a dorming hall on campus. Since Erza and Jellal were a thing, we constantly got invited to hockey parties since Jellal was a player his freshman and sophomore year on the team before he got hurt. He's just a student manager now that helps out with the team. Anyway, we got invited to the first party of that year where they induct all the freshman into the 'Brotherhood' and that's where we met Natsu and Gray."

She paused to see Lucy still listening and carried on, "Now, Gray has had his stripping habit since he was younger and he ended up getting plastered and stripped everything for the whole party to see. It was a very…" She chuckled before shaking her head back and forth. "Eye opening event to say the least. I was plastered as well which didn't help the situation and I ended up stripping as well. One thing lead to another and I woke up the next morning next to Gray." Cana grinned as she watched Lucy's face register what she just said.

"Wait! You slept with Gray!? I would have never guessed that!" She sat there thinking before snapping her fingers. "Wait! That's why Natsu made that comment about you two. It all makes sense now."

"Supposedly it's because of Natsu that we ended up sleeping together." Cana shrugged and stood up from her seat. "Welp, I gotta get to class. I'll see you back at the house Lucy." She waved over her shoulder at her and walked out.

Lucy glanced down at her phone and sighed. What an interesting story that was. Who would have ever guessed Cana and Gray of all people…? Either way, she shouldn't be thinking too harshly about this. They were in college after all, and hook ups were a nightly thing here.

* * *

"So, what are yer doin' here Shrimp? I thought you had class at this time?" Gajeel grunted out as he watched Levy move through his room. He placed his back against his closet door and wiped his forehead with a headband he had been wearing. He was lucky that he just got back from practice, or she would be able to tell he was sweating from nerves of her being here. Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched her plop down on his bed and he lifted an eyebrow as she elegantly crossed her own as well as her legs. He gulped when his eyes met her own.

"My class got cancelled tonight. I came over here because I heard Natsu and Gray stole all our underwear. I wanted to know if you had any help in this matter." Levy questioned him intensely, and she could see Gajeel's gears working overtime in his head. A small smirk spread over her lips.

"I told you once, I told you twice Shrimp. I was with you when that deed was done. I had no part in the plannin' or stealin' of yer stuff." Gajeel kept his back against the closet door, and a smirk crossed his own lips when he saw hers drop. "Besides, I don't have a need for girls' underwear."

"You mean you wouldn't want to see mine laying on your floor one day…?" Levy snuck in the little whispered comment knowing he could hear her loud and clear. She grinned seeing the flushed cheeks of rose cover Gajeel's face and his mouth opening and closing in shock.

"Oh God! Shit you two! Close the door if you are going to talk about that stuff!"

Levy shrieked as she whipped her head towards Gajeel's doorway to see Natsu and a blonde haired boy who had a scar through his right eyebrow peering into the room. "N-natsu! What are you doing here?"

"I live here…?" He shrugged and walked away but stopped at Levy's next question.

"Hey, Lucy told me to tell you that she wants you to text her back. She wants to ask you a question about the test that she took yesterday." Levy noticed Natsu stiffen and rub the back of his head.

"Tell her to send me a message through Tinder or something. My phone's messaging is all messed up at the moment." He turned to give her a lopsided grin before running up the stairs in the house.

Levy watched curiously at his weird behavior before hearing a snicker come from the other male in the doorway. "And what are you laughing at boy I don't know?" That got a chuckle from Gajeel.

The blonde haired male just grinned towards Levy before giving her a mock salute. "Sting Eucliffe mam'. I was laughing at the pink haired bastard because I know how he broke his phone. He's so pissed at himself right now I can't help but to love it." Sting waved them off before heading towards the stairs himself.

"Sting is Natsu's cousin believe it or not Shrimp. Those two reunited when they both came here for hockey since they lived in different towns." Gajeel saw her eyes soften and then smiled down at her. "Wanna go get something to chew on?"

"Sure! As long as you're paying!" She giggled at his grumbling and hopped up from his bed before spinning towards the doorway. "You comin'?"

"Yeah, yeah, right behind yah. Let me grab a jacket." Gajeel opened the closet door and instantly regretted it. A box from the top shelf fell straight onto his head, emptying the contents of the box onto his head and shoulders. Levy's gasp filled his now bright red ears, and he felt like slowly disappearing into the closet to hide from the angry glare he knew he was receiving from Levy.

"So… you had nothing to do with my missing underwear you said?" Levy's angry voice carried throughout the room as Gajeel turned around, taking the box off his head and holding it out for her.

"Of course not… I have no idea how yer underwear ended up in a box in my closet…"

"Nice try Gajeel." Levy could hardly hold back her smile from seeing him covered in her underwear. She slowly picked the ones up off the ground as Gajeel began to pull them off his head and shoulders.

"No really. I came back home from our date and they were on my bed. I had no idea what to do with them so I hid them away until I could figure it all out. I guess I forgot until you were here sitting on my bed." Gajeel grabbed the last pair that was on the very top of his head and looked down at them. A light blush covered his cheeks before moving them out of the way of Levy's reaching hand.

"Hey! Gajeel! Give that to me!" Levy pouted cutely as she tried to reach up for them. Gajeel held them over her head, just above her reaching fingertips.

"No way Shrimp… I think I am going to hold onto these for a little while."

"Those are my favorite pair Gajeel!"

"Well what do you know? These are my favorite too. I'm gonna hold onto them until the day I get to see another pair laying on my floor." He stuffed the pair into his jeans pocket and grabbed a coat. "Let's go get some grub. I definitely owe you a nice meal now Shrimp."

Levy puffed out her rose colored cheeks, but she followed him anyway with the almost complete box of her underwear. She was determined to get those pair back.

No matter what it took.

* * *

Natsu groaned looking down at his cracked phone screen and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. He was hating himself right now for cracking his phone, but he had a damn good reason to throw it across the room earlier before practice. It was something he was avoiding to tell anyone. It was something he had to deal with alone.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his hand, he glanced down to see a notification pop up for Tinder. Well, at least he now knew that his apps still worked. His texting, calling, and camera features weren't working, but his games and social media apps were. He pulled up Tinder and was barely able to make out the message sent to him from Lucy through the cracks on the screen.

' _Hey Natsu. I heard you broke your phone? How did you manage that?'_

' _Threw it against the wall right before practice and used it as a hockey puck for shooting at Laxus' ugly mug.'_

' _Well aren't you sweet?'_

He snorted as he replied back. _'You aren't much better you weirdo.'_

' _Why do you insist on calling me that?'_

' _Cause you are? Now what did you want? Levy told me something about the test?'_

' _Oh yeah! I wanted to know if you had graded mine yet?'_

Natsu bit down nervously on his thumb, debating on his answer back. He had all of them graded, but he didn't really want to get into this topic with Lucy. He wasn't technically allowed to discuss the grading process with anyone besides the professor, so telling her her grade was out of the question.

' _I dunno. Maybe? I would have to relook over the ones I already graded.'_

' _Well darn… I'm really nervous about what I got on it because I'm sure that I failed. Can you at least tell me when we are getting them back?'_

"At least I can answer that…" He mumbled out loud before typing out his reply. _'Tomorrow actually.'_

' _I can't mentally prepare for that by tomorrow!'_

' _You'll be fine, Luigi. No worries.'_

' _Did you just type out Luigi, or did your phone autocorrect my name it to that?'_

' _Wait, your name isn't Luigi?'_

Natsu grinned at his reply. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew she was probably bubbling mad at his reply right now. She was so cute when flustered with stuff like this. He found it adorable.

' _You are so mean Natsu. No wonder Gray hates you.'_

' _I sure as hell hope he does. It would be weird if the ice prick liked me. I think I would throw up. Btw, I heard that you are going to games this weekend?'_

' _Oh yeah did Cana tell you about that? I am! It's my first hockey game I will see!'_

' _Your first ones!? Luuuuuuucccehhh! Come on! This sport is my life and you are just now seeing me play? This is torture!'_ His grin spread across his face. He was going to play his heart out this weekend just for her then. He would have to cheer her up some way after the news she receives tomorrow anyway.

' _Well, you'll just have to show me a good time this weekend then!'_

His mind ran wild with thoughts about what she could have meant until the back of his head was slapped. He turned around to yell at the intruder to his room before he shrunk back in fear. "Er-Erza! What are you doing here!?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter Natsu and wipe your nose. Jellal called a team meeting downstairs." Erza promptly walked out of the room and Natsu grabbed a tissue to wipe up the blood from his random nosebleed.

' _I'll see you tomorrow Luce. I got a team meeting. Peace out.'_

* * *

Lucy couldn't be more thankful for the hockey game tonight. Her week had been horrible after Wednesday and finding out she promptly _failed_ her chemistry exam. She had one of the higher failing grades of a sixty-five percent, but somehow Cana had gotten an eighty. An _eighty_! How in the world did the woman who didn't study a wink get a better grade than her? No wonder Natsu was so flighty when it came to her asking about the exam. She knew he was acting weird and avoiding the conversation.

Speaking of Natsu, she was so excited to get to watch this game and she had a great seat just to do that. Supposedly, Erza and Cana when they became juniors got the front row seats up against the glass to watch the games because of Erza's connections, and now they scored these seats every game. Lucy pressed her hands up against the cold glass and shivered. She was thrilled to get this game started and get the adrenaline pumping through her veins. The large student body packed the stands, and she was at the front of it all.

She hugged her arms to her body, trying to keep warm under the large jersey Erza had given her to wear. It was a simple, plain jersey that had no number or name on it, but did have the school's logo and a familiar looking fairy symbol on it. She knew she had seen the fairy before – it was the hockey team's symbol. Almost all of the boys had the symbol somewhere tattooed on their body – like Natsu's on his right shoulder, or Gray's found on his chest.

Hearing the student's start a cheer and the lights dim, she turned to face the ice just as their boys came roaring out onto the ice – Laxus leading the way. He looked even more intimating in his giant hockey gear, but her eyes weren't on him long. Oh no, they were locked onto the pink set of hair that entered the ice as well, his hockey stick raised over his head as he took to the ice. He glided swiftly over the ice to stand in the middle along with Laxus, Gray on his other side.

She smiled at Natsu's back, seeing the name Dragneel lettered across his upper back and the number seven as well in a big, bold lettering font. You wouldn't think Natsu was one for the ice, but he had told her the story just before he left for the game earlier in the day.

Supposedly, Natsu and Gray both went to rival grade schools that were located in the same town. Each sport, whether it be soccer, football, golf, tennis, lacrosse, swimming – you name it – they faced against one another and dueled to be the top athlete. One day, Natsu noticed that his big time rival Gray wasn't playing soccer anymore, and demanded his old teammates to tell him where he had gone. The boys on the other team claimed that he had 'discovered the glorious sport of hockey' and went to play that on a club team.

Natsu, determined to prove to Gray that he was the better athlete, told his father that he wanted to join the same hockey team. On the first day of practice, Natsu was so far behind that Gray wiped the floor with his ass, leaving him in the dust. Gray was a natural on the ice – like a second nature to him second to his stripping habit that he even had as a child. Natsu on the other hand kept getting sick every time he put the skates on his feet.

Natsu told her that he trained for a month straight just to get over his motion sickness that the skates alone gave him, and over three months to get used to actually skating on the ice. When he was finally ready, he proved to Gray once again that he would be his rival in this sport. The two grew close to one another, and constantly fought even though they were on the same team. Their rivalry actually helped their teamwork however, and their team grew recognition to the two boys who played their hearts out.

They went to the same high school, and dominated the hockey playing field there as well. They were almost drafted into the pros right after high school, but they both chose to go play in college hockey first and get their degrees before even thinking about the pros. Both of them signed with Magnolia University, knowing they wouldn't be as good on the ice if they both weren't out there on the same team.

Lucy smiled fondly at the two boys who were now warming up out on ice. Who knew their friendship sparked over a stupid rivalry would blossom into something as strong as their bond today? Even though they both stated they hated each other, they knew they were weaker without the other around. She felt a hand on her arm and looked out to where Levy was pointing, showing off Gajeel's big form as he too was out on the ice and warming up.

Lucy looked at the other team and they seemed so much… bigger than their team. Only Gajeel, Elfman and Laxus seemed to be the right size against them. She glanced back at their team and found the number seven easily. She watched him fire a shot at the goal, effectively going in past Laxus. She was shocked at how smooth and effortless he made it seem. She couldn't wait to see him in action.

The game started a rough fifteen minutes later, with Lucy and Levy fighting their way back to their seats from the bathroom. They heard and saw the puck drop just as they got back to their seats. Seeing Natsu and Gray take off straight away was a sight she would never forget. Their teamwork was unlike any other, and after a few passes between them, Natsu took a far out shot which hit the back of the net. The crowd seemed shocked as the buzzer rang through the arena before Lucy heard the announcer.

"And there he is folks! Our number one leading scorer – Fireball Natsu! Scoring under just a minute, he breaks his previous fastest game shot of one minute and thirty-three second!" The crowd roared in appreciation as Natsu skated past where Lucy was standing. He placed his hand on the glass, right next to her own and winked at her before Gray, Elfman, Loke, and Gajeel all came and tackled him into the glass right before her.

A light blush coated her cheeks as she watched the crowd cheering all around them. Cheering for the boys she was so thankful to have in her life. Cheering for the one boy who constantly seemed to better her mood and make her smile unlike any other. She knew he had scored that goal just for her – to cheer her up after this week.

And she couldn't be more thankful.

* * *

YAY! Hope you all enjoyed it :D

if you have any suggestions on what cool things should happen in the oncoming chapters, please feel free to message me! Would love to hear some suggestions and thoughts! :D


	7. Chapter 7: Strike Back

Just want to thank everyone for the words of encouragement and waiting SO long for this next chapter! I had such a hard time writing this last chapter but inspired randomly yesterday to finish this all up! 3

Enjoy it all!

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Strike Back**

They struck right after the hockey game ended on Saturday night. It wasn't like Friday's game where Natsu scored goal after goal. He was mainly there for support this game, and it was a great experience for Lucy to see him in both the offensive and assistance roles of the game. There was no question that the boys would win the series after the first half lead of three to zero, so there was no better time to strike than now. Erza told them that normally after winning a series, all the boys go back to the locker room for a team meeting, showers, and then out with their coach for a drink. The estimated time of arrival would be about an hour, if one of them decided to not go for a drink, so they had to act now if they were going to pull off the big strike they had planned out.

Erza, with the help of Mira, had this whole thing planned out to a T, and Lucy was scared of the way that their minds worked together. The plan was brilliant; the perfect way to get back at them for stealing all their underwear. It was the matter of pulling it off that Lucy was worried about. She also feared the reactions of the other boys who had no part in the war that Natsu and Gray started, but Mira assured her that the guys would just put more blame on Natsu and Gray - making their revenge even sweeter.

Getting into the house was no problem, seeing as Mira had a spare key since she basically lived there with Laxus. They moved eagerly into the house and started their strike back. Erza and Mira didn't need any help it seemed in carrying out their part, and that terrified Lucy.

Turning towards Levy she whispered, "Remind me to never get on their bad side…"

"You and me both Lu-chan… Let's get upstairs and carry out our part." Lucy followed Levy up the stairs and entered Natsu's room. She nearly screamed when she spotted a small blur run towards her, but she covered her mouth and breathed out a sigh of relief at seeing Happy meowing up at her.

Picking the blue fur ball up, she moved through his dark room, careful not to move anything too out of place in her search for a valuable of his. She stopped at his cluttered desk and found his cherished scarf thrown over the side of the couch. Grabbing it and wrapping it around her own neck, she breathed in his scent and sighed heavily to herself.

"Why does he have to smell this good? This boy of yours is a sin Happy." Feeling Happy squirm in her arms, she let him on top of the desk. Batting at a pile of envelopes, Happy knocked over the large pile to the floor, "Ah! Happy no! He's not supposed to know I was in here!"

Lucy bent over to pick them up, grabbing Happy while she was at it to set him back down on the floor and away from the large mess now made. As she was organizing them, she paused in her clean up to find a ripped open envelope that Happy batted at. Feeling curious and quite annoyed with the cat at this point, she pulled the letter out and sat down on the edge of his bed. Happy jumped up and rubbed at her arm, purring in response when she began to scratch his head. She pulled the letter out, noticing the crumbled up sides as if Natsu had grasped the paper too tightly.

She knew she wasn't supposed to be doing this, but she was curious and it seemed that Happy wanted her to read it. She opened up the letter and began to scan the page, seeing the crumbled grip like marks and was appeared to be water stains all around the edges. Her eyes scanned the first few lines before the paper fell from her grasp. Gasping, her free hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened as silent tears trailed down her cheeks. Hearing footsteps, she grabbed for the letter and stuffed it back into the envelope and threw them back on the desk. Turning around she spotted Levy in the doorway with Gajeel's white, studded guitar.

"You ready Lu-chan? I think the other girls are all re- Are you alright!?" Levy rushed forward to look over Lucy's red puffy eyes. "Why are you crying? Did Happy scratch you?" She scanned over Lucy's form before Lucy's hand came to rest on her shoulder, the other wiping away at her face.

"Levy I'm fine really. I just read something that Natsu wrote and it was pretty heartfelt, you know? I'm a sucker for some good writing as you know." She let a fake smile appear on her face, hoping it would calm down the fidgeting girl in front of her.

"Ohh! Lu-chan where is it? I want to read it!" Levy seemed to look all around before Lucy pushed her towards the doorway.

"Levy we got to go before the boys get back. I'll tell you about it later!" Lucy successfully got her out the door and waved goodbye to a meowing Happy who was curled up on Natsu's bed. "By the way, is the guitar what you came up here for?"

"Oh this!" Levy held up the white, studded guitar and giggled. "I originally wanted to go for his white suit he always talks about, but then I saw this in the corner and thought this was a much better idea than some suit. What about you?"

"Yeah, I got what I came for." She mentioned towards the scarf wrapped around her neck, pulling it a little tighter around her neck to let the scent of him fill her nose again.

"I'm surprised he didn't take that to the game with him. He wears that religiously." Levy giggled. "It wouldn't shock me if he even tried to wear it during practice or to games sometimes." Lucy nodded in return and her eyes drifted to the scarf. "I think he mentioned that his dad gave that scarf to him." Lucy's head snapped back up to look at Levy. Her mind was reeling with the information she had just read through the letter. It mentioned something about his father…

She needed to know more.

"Say Levy, do you know anything of Natsu's family? I've seen his pictures and know he's really big with family, but he has never told me anything about them." Lucy looked towards her as they reached the bottom of the stairs and walked outside to find the other girls.

"I'm not the best person to ask, but I know Gajeel has told me a few things. Like the fact that he and Natsu are 'technically' cousins due to how close their fathers are." Lucy stared at Levy as she giggled some more and nodded when Lucy's mouth fell open. "I know! I reacted the same way! I didn't believe it at first, but supposedly they spend all their holidays together." She shrugged and walked towards the fully loaded truck in the middle of the yard. "What is all this?"

Hearing the door slam, the girls jumped and watched as Erza walked towards them. "Come on ladies! We need to get this load home so we can hide it before the guys get back." Her determined face was back on and Lucy could swear she saw stars sparkling in her eyes.

"We understand that, but what's with the truck? Whose is it?" Lucy got her answer when she saw Mira standing through the sunroof window and waving at them with the keys in her hand.

"Lucy! Levy! Come on! Cana already stole all of Gray's underwear and now we are stealing Laxus' truck!"

"St-stealing Laxus' truck!? Laxus didn't have a part in this! Why are stealing something of his!?" Lucy walked cautiously towards the truck as Mira revved it up.

Mira pouted towards Lucy as she mumbled out, "He never lets me drive it, so it's as much his fault as it is theirs." Lucy sweat dropped but agreed, nonetheless.

"R-right. Let's get home then." Mira grinned and Lucy didn't look back over at her. She swore she saw a demon take over the girl as she revved up the truck and flew down the street.

* * *

"Ah, shit man, I'm beat." Natsu yawned and stretched out his body as he walked into the house. His arms stretched over his head as he turned towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go get dressed and then we can head to the party yeah?" He turned back towards the others who were still clamoring into the house.

Gray walked in and bopped Natsu on the head before trucking his way up the stairs, "Yeah, go get ready. Make sure you cover up that ugly mug before you leave the house. Don't want you to scare away any of the ladies tonight."

Natsu growled as he raced up the stairs after Gray, "At least I don't strip all the fucking time! Put your shirt back on stripper!"

Gray looked down and groaned. "Why in the hell does this keep happening?" I thought I got rid of this habit…" He scratched his head as he dropped his hockey bag on the side of his room, going towards the closet and picking out a normal dark blue, button-up shirt and khaki pants. As he was about to slip them on, he noticed his drawers had been flown open. His eyes widened as he noticed they were cleaned out. Just before he was able to reach for the handle to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him, he heard a loud simultaneous yell come from all around the house.

"Where the fuck is my scarf!?" He could tell that was the pyro….

"Why is my guitar missing!?" Obviously Gajeel with the loud banging coming across the hall.

"NATSU! GRAY!" That was definitely the scariest of them all as Laxus' booming voice carried throughout the whole house.

He heard scampering as Natsu rushed into his room, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it. "Shit shit shit! Fuck! Gray we gotta get out of here! It looks like the girls struck back."

Gray's eyes widened as he looked around the room. His eyes glanced at the window and before he could rush for it, the door slammed open, throwing Natsu behind it and pinning him against the wall. Laxus' large form filled the doorway and Gray shrunk back, wishing he was ash for brains at the moment so he wasn't on the receiving end of Laxus' angered scowl.

"Y-yo Laxus… What's happening?" Gray stammered out before he flinched. Was that just lightning he saw flashing behind Laxus? "What's the problem?"

"You and the pink haired flaming pisshole are in some deep shit…" Laxus' voice rang throughout the room and Gray's blood ran cold.

"Hey fight me! I ain't some flaming, pink haired bastard, yah lightning freak!" Natsu rushed out from behind the door before he was roughly pulled by the collar of his red shirt.

Lifting him off the ground, Laxus growled before doing the same to Gray. Both of their feet hovered over the ground as Laxus brought them towards his face. "You two better fix the mess you made… And don't even try to get out of it. I will destroy you both." He smacked their heads together before dropping them both back to the ground. "First order of business is to get my fucking truck back… Clearly Mira took it judging by the way my door wasn't forced open and she's the only other one with a key to my room..." He paused as Elfman yelled out behind him, "Mira is a man!" before he continued. "Secondly. Get. My. Food. Back."

Natsu and Gray looked at each other from their positions on the ground before facing Laxus again. "Food back? What do you mean?"

"It seems the ladies have decided to raid our kitchen of everything…" Fixing his glasses on his face, Loke walked into the room before crossing his arms over his chest. "And why I say they raided everything… I mean it. They took everything." Loke got closer before he grabbed Gray's shirt and shook him, tears streaming down his face as Gray sweat dropped, "A-and! You must-! They took my magazines!" Loke sobbed into Gray's shirt. "They took it all! Avenge me Gray! I cannot go on!"

"You mean those slutty magazines you hide under your bed?" Natsu questioned as he was then grabbed by Loke and shaken furiously as well.

"They are not slutty! You clearly do not have an eye for art, you uncultured shit! They are all works of art Natsu! Works of art! Those women pose for us men to gaze upon their bodies! They are models of the best kind!"

"They are just photo shopped pictures of naked women… Don't you see the real thing enough?" Natsu groaned as his face turned green from the back and forth motion.

"As if any of those women would pose for me! Alas, I am left to other devices to please my artful eyes." Loke glanced away, his eyes shining with a weird glint.

"Yeah we get it. When you can't get any you masturbate to the magazines. Way to go old school, Loke. You know there is this thing called internet porn right?" Gray mumbled out before standing up and dusting off his pants.

"Porn is so inhumane! Why watch another man pleasure a beautiful woman when it isn't you!?"

"Shut up about this damn porn business! Just get my fucking truck and food back you hear?" Laxus growled as he turned away from the idiotic trio and left the room. "If I see you at the party without my truck, I swear to the flames of hell I will send you there."

Natsu groaned as he flopped onto his back. His eyes scanned the room's ceiling before he felt Gray do the same. "We messed up."

"You can say that again."

"We messed up." That earned him a fist to the stomach before Natsu tackled Gray and a wrestling match ensued.

* * *

"I really fucking hate your guts right now flame for brains. Seriously, how do you constantly drag me into this crazy shit of yours?" Gray walked next to Natsu, his shoulders slumped as he carried the duffle bag containing Cana's underwear over one of them. He grumbled more under his breath as he noticed Natsu not paying attention to him. "Hey asshole, I'm complaining over here. The least you can do is listen to me or retort back."

"Hmmm? What you say Popsicle?" Natsu grinned seeing the glare he received back. "But the reason why you constantly follow me on these adventures is cause you are a follower, not a leader." He held up a finger to stop Gray from interrupting before he carried on, "And I am just too damn awesome for you to ignore! Unlike yourself."

Gray flung the duffle around his shoulder and wacked Natsu in the back of his head with it. "Shut it asshole! You know what, now you're going down in this drinking contest later at the party. I don't care what it takes, you won't know the fucking sky from the ground when I'm done with you."

"Could you make that sound anymore gay? Seriously, first your stripping in front of me then the next you are talking about fucking? I'm flattered you feel this way about me but I like girls." Natsu laughed and ran ahead when Gray tried to tackle him to the ground. "Ah ah ah! Trying to touch me now after I denied you? Shameful Ice Princess! Shameful!"

"Shut the fuck up you idiot! God I could…"

"You could what Gray?"

Gray froze hearing the dark voice of Erza right behind him. He yelped when he felt a heavy arm wrap around his shoulders and he turned his head to give a forced smile to her. "H-hey Erza. How you doin'?"

"Fine. Care to finish what you were about to say?"

"N-no I'd rather not cause - "

"Erza! Gray said he was going to fuck me later but I don't like him that way then he tried to force himself on me!"

"Natsu shut the fuck up! Seriously! I wasn't doing any of that -" He grunted and tried to lean away from the tight grip. His eye twitched as he saw Natsu's 'innocent' face looking back at the both of them. He mouthed out 'you're dead to me' and watched Natsu just laugh out loud.

He sighed in relief feeling Erza let up on his shoulders and he grumbled seeing her grinning back at him. "I really hate you guys." He held out the duffle bag he was carrying. "We come with a peace offering. All I want to do it return your guys' stuff so we can get our stuff back and not have Laxus kill us."

"Hmmm… I see. So this is a peace offering?" Erza held a hand to her chin as she looked to Natsu who held up to other bags containing hers and Lucy's underwear. "And where is Levy's?"

"Gajeel screwed it all up and gave it back to her already." Natsu smiled before flinching away from Erza's glare. "N-not that that is a bad thing you know! Good for him being a great guy and all unlike us…"

"Much better. You may come in." Erza turned and walked back into the house, Gray and Natsu close behind her.

"Aye-yo Lushhii! I got your shit. Come and get it!"

"Natsu! Just go up and give it to her! Gray and I will make the deal. I will take mine now thank you." Erza snatched it from his hands and sent him up the stairs. "First door on your right!"

Natsu groaned and climbed up the stairs, turning the corner he noticed the light on under her door and grinned. "Heyyyy Luce!" He cheered throwing open the door and jumping in. His eyes widened as he crashed into her _naked_ body and the two of them fell to the ground in a heap.

His face landing in the middle of her bust, Natsu's mind went blank as his hands came to rest on the two mounds. He gave an experimental squeeze before a nosebleed began and he tried to push away from her body, but instead her hands come to wrap around him and hold him in place.

"Eeep! N-natsu! What are you DOING HERE!?" Lucy squeezed him tighter, constricting his air ways and making him flail his arms. "DEAR GOD I AM NAKED!" She pushed him away at this point and shuffled towards the bed until her back hit it. She grabbed the towel she had just a few minutes before been wearing and wrapped it around her body. "SERIOUSLY!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Natsu kept his face against the ground as he tried to control his current blood rushing problem. Both areas weren't holding up to well as he sat up and faced towards the door. "Hey Luce. Uh… I came to return your underwear so like… Can you put some on so I can face you?" He wiped furiously at his nose and adjusted his pants before standing up and grabbing the duffle bag. He threw it behind him towards her which she miraculously caught.

"Uh yeah… Just - DON'T LOOK!" She threw a pillow at his head as he began to turn around once again. "Seriously! Just give me a minute!" She quickly threw on new underwear (thank goodness, she was beginning to tire of the same pair constantly) and pulled on her other clothes she had set out for the night before turning back around. Crossing her arms over her chest she puffed out her cheeks, "Okay. You can turn around now."

Natsu eagerly turned around before blushing, scratching the back of his head and glancing down. "Uh, sorry about that. I thought it would be fun to surprise you but obviously that didn't go too well…"

"Well no kidding. Can't you be a normal human being and have the decency to knock first?"

"Guess not… Sorry. Really, I am. Even though it was a wonderful experience I feel terrible." His face flamed as he realized just what he had said, "Ah- no I mean… uh…!"

Lucy's face lit up at his comment and she let out a giggle before laughing hysterically. Natsu's face lit up as he approached her. "Listen Luce, I am really sorry. I brought your stuff back so I could get mine." He eyed the white scarf dangling off her bed and he bent to reach for it before his hand was slapped away.

"No way mister. I get this scarf for the rest of the evening whether you like it or not. I at least get that much." Lucy's face was stern as Natsu looked at her with wide eyes and an opened mouth.

"But Luce that scarf is - "

"I know it's important to you, but I want to wear it for the night. I even color coordinated my whole outfit to match it." That's when Natsu glanced down at her outfit and let out a low whistle.

She was wearing tight black skinny jeans that had a similar pattern etched into them like his scarf which made her butt look _fantastic,_ a dark charcoal grey shirt and a white vest that situated over the top of that. The vest did nothing but hug her figure further and show off the roundness of her bust.

"Hey Natsu…" His eyes traveled up to meet hers before he had realized he was staring. "My face is up here." She tapped her foot impatiently. She had to put on an annoyed front even though she was silently screaming on the inside with his reactions towards her tonight.

"Yeah, sorry. You look great. I mean, like, wow. Uh…" Natsu smiled sheepishly towards her before he bent over quickly to grab his scarf. Before she could retort back and grab for the scarf, he gripped her arm and twirled her around, pressing his chest to her back. His arm wrapped tightly around her midsection to hold her close to him as he moved his lips to her neck. He trailed his rough lips up her neck towards her ear, barely letting them scratch her skin. He pulled the scarf up and wrapped it around her neck, letting his breath fan over her ear, "You can have it for tonight… I like seeing you in it."

Lucy gulped deeply, slowly turning her body around to face him. She hid the lower half of her face within the folds of the scarf before pulling the front of his shirt towards her. Their faces were centimeters apart before Natsu pulled away and covered his mouth with his hand. A deep blush was scattered all over his cheeks as he glanced back at her. ' _Shit… She's too cute. I can't do this."_

"Uh listen Luce, I gotta go. I'll see you tonight at the party okay?" Natsu saw her disappointed look before he turned towards the door. "Take good care of that scarf for me. It's a really meaningful gift I got from my old man."

Lucy's heart sank watching him leave the room in a hurry, but her eyes widened as she glanced at the bright red, lacey pair of underwear sticking out of his jean's back pocket. She pointed and gasped aloud as he turned back around. "Th-those are mine! Natsu! That's my favorite pair! Give them back!" She moved forward and reached for them before Natsu pulled them out and held them up above her head.

"No way Luce! I love this pair!" He hooked a finger into his scarf and pulled her forward, his lips meeting her forehead in a light gesture. "Besides… I'm determined to see you in these, and only these." He pulled away and grinned at her blushing face. Stuffing the panties back into his pocket he walked backwards out the door and winked at her. "The day I get to see that, you'll get them back."

Lucy's face flamed as she let out a large squeak and slammed the door shut between them. She leaned back against the door and held her cheeks in her hands. "Oh God did he just…?"

Right outside the door, Natsu was in the same exact position as he mumbled out a low, "Fuck… I really just said that."

* * *

Lucy was fidgeting as she glanced around the room at all the moving bodies. This party was a lot bigger than she was told it was going to be. She tightened the scarf around her neck before moving with Levy through the crowd towards the kitchen area. Cheering could be heard coming from that area and the two girls were extremely curious as to what was going on.

Stepping into the kitchen, her eyes landed on the pink head of hair as it tipped back to take another shot. Three empty shot glasses were laid out in front of him and across the table laid another three shot glasses in front of Gray. The two of them slammed down their now empty glasses and glared at each other.

"Another tie? How many has this been now?" Gray groaned and held tightly onto the table to keep from swaying. He was already beginning to feel the effects of the amount he had drunk so far.

Natsu was in no better condition as his eyes tried to focus on the moving glasses in front of him. "I think we are six shots in, not to mention all the mixed drinks and beer we have had so far." Natsu looked up to see Gray now occupied with a Juvia who was hugging his arm tight against her chest. His eyes scanned the room before coming to rest on the blonde head of hair. "Luushhiii! Hey!" He moved around the multiple bodies and came to a stop in front of her. "Glad to see you here." His eyes looked to her right to see Levy. "Yo! Levy! Welcome!"

"Hi Natsu." Levy giggled as she moved away from the two to go towards the large towering figure in the corner whose eyes had never left her since she entered the room.

Lucy smiled at Natsu before she was pulled closer to him by his arm wrapping around her waist. "Uh- Natsu what's up?" She glanced up at him to see his tightening jaw before he made a quick glance down at her.

"Nothing. Come on let's get you a drink. You just got here yeah?" Lucy could smell the cinnamon whiskey on his breath as he pulled her towards the large bins sitting in the corner of the kitchen. "Jungle Juice okay?" She nodded before taking the full cup from his hand.

"Thanks Natsu. I could use this." She took a large gulp and her eyes widened as the alcohol burned her throat. "Shit this does not taste well."

Natsu let out a deep chuckle, "I didn't say it was good Jungle Juice, but it'll get you to where you need to be." He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched her take light sips. The glistening of the liquid on her plump lips had him leaning in before an arm pulled him back into a hug. His arms flew up and knocked the cup out of her hands as his body twisted in a weird way before his body came in contact with a more petite one.

"Nnnaattssuuu! I missed you!" Lisanna's loud cheerful voice filled his ears as his arms came to wrap her body to hug her back.

"Hey Lis! How are you?" Natsu pulled back to see her face and his smile slipped seeing the heavily rosy cheeks. "Holy cow Lisanna, how drunk are you?"

Lucy's groan caught his attention but Lisanna wavered on her feet before clutching at his shirt, turning his attention back towards her. "Hey Naaaaasu… ?" Her breath fanned across his now opened shirt and he pulled back to hold her at arm's length.

"Woah, Lis. I think you need to sit down. Hey Luce -" He turned around to see her sad eyes looking back towards him. He paused before he winked at her, sparking her interest before he pulled Lisanna towards him. "I gotta take Lis to her brother. I'll be right back okay?"

Lucy could only nod before Natsu pulled Lisanna along towards the large boasted man in the next room screaming, "Man!" She crossed her arms over her chest before glancing down at her now ruined shoes and spilled drink. She grabbed another cup and filled it up before chugging half of it. She felt another body hovering close before she turned around to face two impossibly blue eyes.

"Damn girl, you sure know how to drink." The blonde haired man grinned down at her before holding out a hand. "Hey, the names Sting. How are yah?"

Lucy instantly recognized him as one of the other hockey players before taking his hand and shaking it lightly. "Lucy. I'm doing well thank you." She let a smile cross her features as Sting leaned in to take a cup and fill it as well.

"I saw you talking to Natsu. You two close?" Sting eyed her up and down while her eyes glanced down at her drink.

"Oh! Yeah. We are pretty good friends. You know him through hockey right?"

Sting let out a laugh that had tears in the corners of his eyes. Lucy stared wide eyed as she moved back a few steps before he eventually stopped, "Ah man. I wish! Nah, Natsu is my cousin. My dad and his dad are brothers I guess you could say." He glanced at Lucy and winked. "Betcha didn't know he had a good looking cousins like me, huh?"

Lucy's mind was reeling trying to take this in. Natsu had other cousins besides Gajeel? She thought that was even weird, but now learning there were more… She placed a hand to her head and shook it. The alcohol was already messing with her system.

"I had no idea he had more cousins. Just how many of you are there?"

"Ah well, I should explain that none of us are blood related, but all our dads were raised together. Like for instance, Rogue and I are step-brothers 'cause our dads uh… Got married." He scratched the back of his head. "It's weird I know, but they met after both of them split with our moms and here we are. Then there is Gajeel who is Natsu's dad's best friend. And of course Natsu's little sister, Wendy."

Lucy's eyes widened as she held her drink tighter, "Natsu has a little sister? He never told me!"

Sting laughed and leaned in, seeing Lucy sway on her feet from the constant sipping of her drink. "Well I'm not surprised. He doesn't talk about his family much even though he's a big family guy…"

"And I would like to tell her myself when I eventually get the chance." Natsu's annoyed voice filtered through the two of them and Sting leaned back, sweat-dropping and sighing.

"Natsu!" Lucy cheered as she wrapped her arm through his, "You're back!"

Natsu grinned down at her, "Yeah, I'm back Luce. You miss me?"

Lucy laughed but only nodded in reply seeing that Sting had disappeared, "Wait… Where did Sting go?" She glanced around but stopped when she saw Natsu's piercing eyes. "W-what's wrong?"

"Come on, I want to show you something." He pulled her along, through the moving bodies towards the stairs in the back of the next room. He pulled her up the dark steps, careful to move past the intertwined bodies making out on the stairs. Who would do that in such a place? "Get a room Ice Ass! No one wants to see that in public!" Lucy's eyes widened seeing Gray flip Natsu off as he continued to furiously kiss Juvia and grind his hips against her own into the wall.

"Gray and… and Juvia!?" Lucy found herself stumbling into Natsu's arms once more when he pulled her against him. His body pinned hers against the wall as a large figure moved past them and down the stairs. She glanced up to see his eyes looking down at her. She flushed and wished he would close the distance between the two of them before he pulled her towards an open window.

"Come on Luce, we are almost there." He held her hand as he moved himself out of the window and onto a hidden porch below. She clamored on out after him, never letting go of his hand as she looked up and her breath was taken away. The whole backyard was lit up with lights surrounding the fenced in yard. The party was in full swing with multiple games of Beer Pong, Flip Cup and Boom going on on every possible table available. She moved towards the ledge and sat down to watch the party. She glanced up and a soft smile fell on her face as she looked up to see the starry sky above her. She felt Natsu hover above her as he spread his arms out wide.

"Isn't this place amazing Luce? Jellal has it made with this house of his." He let a large, fanged grin spread across his face before he sat back down next to her and pulled out a large bottle of Fireball Whiskey. "Want a swig?" He took one of his own before handing the bottle towards her.

"Oh God, I hate Fireball." Lucy groaned before she pinched her nose and took a large gulp, instantly regretting it and coughing as Natsu laughed next to her.

"You sure are something Luce." He pulled the bottle back and took another large gulp. His unoccupied hand moved across the decked porch and landed on top of her own. Taking her hand into his, he lifted it up to his lips and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Hey Natsu… Thank you." Lucy turned towards him, a graceful smile on her lips as her eyes met his. Natsu stopped mid drink and gulped it down for some liquid courage.

"Of course Luce… I knew you would enjoy it." He leaned forward, tugging her in closer to him. He leveled his face with hers before he glanced down at her lips. His words stopped in his throat, and he swallowed hard to try and get the nervous lump to move. "I-I uh… This place is awesome and I want to show you more places I know about too…"

Lucy huffed before placing her free hand on the back of his neck, his lips an inch away from her own, "Just shut up and kiss me you loser…"

And Natsu did just that.

* * *

YAY! Please read and review! It really does make all the difference in the world in inspiring me to write faster/more!


	8. Chapter 8: Ignite

**Finally the next chapter for the Social Grace! I hope you are all enjoying it so far!~  
Sorry that updates are slow - school is kicking me in the rear and it's making it hard for me to upload anything on a regular basis! SO thank you so much for staying with me!~ **

**This chapter is full of NSFW! BE WARNED! This is the main reason why it is rated M. Lemons, limes, smut. Enjoy it!~**

 **Special thanks to notjustanyfangrl (MASON) for helping me write this beautiful smut piece.**

* * *

 **The Social Grace of Tindering**

 **Chapter 8: Ignite**

Lucy wasn't sure how it had ended up like this. One moment she was enjoying the gentle kiss that Natsu had _finally_ given her, and the next…

Well, she would blame it on the alcohol coursing through their veins.

The gentle kiss had quickly turned into a ferocious make out session between the two. One where Natsu had heavily begun to dominate in. Not that Lucy minded.

Lucy let out a gasp as he lifted her up into his lap, her legs moving to wrap around his waist as he sat cross-legged under her. He took that opportunity to move his tongue into her mouth to tackle her own. He tasted like Fireball Whiskey and vaguely wondered if this is what she tasted like as well.

Lucy broke the kiss to gasp for air before she stifled a moan with her hand. Natsu had moved to brush light kisses down her neck. He couldn't help himself - her taste was intoxicating. Her skin glistened from the sweat she had gained from the heated house party, and she smelled greatly of alcohol - _his_ alcohol. He took pride in the fact he was the cause of her enticing sounds and delicious scent.

His right arm moved to hold her waist against him tighter, groaning when she unconsciously grinded against him. His left hand moved beneath her shirt to feel the soft skin of her back underneath. Lucy shuddered in anticipation and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck to force him to kiss her again.

Her lips clashed with his and she began to move her hips in a slow circle, making sure to dip down to rub her core with his own. She wanted to feel that pressure again – that delicious shiver of anticipation that would course through her veins at the mere thought of what this could lead to. She felt Natsu stiffen before she let out a yelp when her body was moved to be placed on the rough decking of the porch. She was about to protest before his lips attacked her neck once more, his body moving to be placed in between her legs. She felt him rock against her and mewled in the pleasure the friction brought.

Her hands moved up to his soft pink locks, tugging on them gently as his own moved underneath her shirt once more to tease her heated skin. He continued his assault on her neck as he sucked on her pulse point, intending to leave his mark on her for the next few days. His hands trailed up to just under the wire frame of her bra, but he stopped and looked up to see Lucy's flushed face. Her teeth had chomped down on her right hand to stifle her moans, the other still gripping the hair on the back of his head. He leaned up and over her, placing his forehead against hers before chuckling softly.

Lucy's half-lidded eyes looked into Natsu's lust filled ones. She leaned up to touch his lips once more, a gentle, needy kiss showing the want and desire she had for him.

Natsu broke the kiss before kissing his way down to her jawline and moving over to lick her ear. That got a strangled moan out of Lucy, his teeth latching onto her earlobe before he whispered huskily into her ear, "My place or yours?"

Lucy bit her lip and looked away. "My place is closer…"

"Got it." Natsu quickly stood up and grabbed her hand, leading her back over to the open window and down the stairs.

* * *

Lucy's shaking hands tried their best to unlock her front door. She couldn't help it if she was nervous! This would be the first time she ever brought a boy home with her after a night of drinking. Normally this wouldn't happen until much later - but Natsu and she were anything _but_ normal.

Matching on Tinder, meeting in person the next day, learning they had mutual friends but had never met one another, this ongoing sexual tension between the two…

She nearly dropped the keys as Natsu's warm hands wrapped around her own and helped her guide the key to the lock. He grinned as she left out a puff of frustration. Opening up the door she stepped in and bit her lip. Did they just go upstairs and _do it_ or how did these things normally work?

Turning around slowly, she watched Natsu out of the corner of her eyes. She didn't dare look him in the eyes - her nerves holding her back. She felt his piercing gaze on her as he stepped forward, his hand coming to cup her chin as he leaned closer. She closed her eyes in anticipation for the kiss, but she was left frustrated as Natsu let out a low chuckle, blowing air on her face.

"Lead the way, Luce…"

Lucy opened her eyes slowly to see his face mere centimeters from her own before she gripped his hand and led him towards the stairs. _Lead the way Luce._ She let out a 'tsk' in frustration. He was giving her the chance to lead was he? Well that was fine with her. She would do this her way then.

She opened her bedroom door slowly, trying to be as teasing as possible to prolong the tension, before Natsu's hand was planted on it and swung it open.

 _Well there went that plan..._

He pushed her forward, causing her to stumble over her feet. She turned around to give him another glare before his lips were on her again. His hands fisted themselves into her hair as he backed her up onto the wall next to the door. Shutting it closed with his foot, he focused his attention on giving Lucy the kiss of a lifetime.

He was never good with words, that was for sure one thing, but he knew how to express himself through actions. And he knew _exactly_ how he wanted to show Lucy how he felt. He bit back the nerves that were starting to rise, hoping the liquid courage would continue to give him just that.

One hand left her hair before trailing down her body, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He reached her backside and gave it a rough squeeze, enough to make her lift her leg up and wrap around his waist. He caught her other leg and soon he was grinding into her at a slow pace, keeping their lips connected as he gently rocked against her.

Lucy gasped for breath and pulled at Natsu's hair before he go back in for more, "Ah… Natsu. Bed. Now."

The roguish smirk that spread over his lips was enough to make her toes curl in anticipation. Natsu swung her around and threw her on the bed. His breath caught in his throat as he watched her sit up, taking down her hair from the high ponytail to let it flow down her back. The moonlight was coming in from the window at just the right angle, giving her a soft glow to enhance her features.

The look she gave him, her eyes lidded and biting that plump lower lip was enough to snap him out of his fantasy. He gripped her ankles and pulled her towards the end of the bed. Lucy whined but stopped at the shred of emotion that was held in those dark obsidian eyes of his. Her breath hitched as he undid her shoes, throwing them carelessly behind him. He threw his scarf over the edge of a nearby chair, then gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head.

Lucy watched, drilling into her mind the way his muscles rippled as he moved. Her eyes traveled down the contours of his abdominal muscles, leading down to that delicious V-shape hip lines that dipped down into his jeans. Her gaze followed his hands as they worked on his belt, pulling it out of the loop of his jeans. The way they hung on his hips was enough to make her mind run short before she felt the bed dip. She looked up, her body now flat as Natsu hovered over her.

Olivine met chocolate and their lips molded together in a tantalizing kiss. She gasped as calloused hands roamed up and down her sides, leaving a scorching trail in their wake. Her arms went around his back, pulling him flush against her and interlocking their legs.

A practiced hand slipped under her shirt and pressed against the warm flesh of her hip, inching ever so slowly up her side. Lucy moaned at the touch, Natsu's hand applying just the right amount of pressure to hold her down as their hips pressed against each other.

Natsu's hand cupped her left breast, softly kneading her breast as he instinctively pushed his hips harder against hers. Lucy could feel the effect their ministrations were having on his body - a hardness pressing against her inner thigh that pulled at the dull ache she was feeling in between her legs.

Impatient for more, Lucy sat up, pulling her shirt over her head, never once leaving the contact between their lips until the material got in the way. Natsu's hands quickly made work of her bra, and suddenly Lucy felt very exposed. Her arms instinctively went around her chest, blocking Natsu's view. She heard a huff and looked up to see Natsu rolling his eyes at her, a small, gentle smile on his lips.

"Luce… You don't have to hide yourself from me." His hands went to grip her wrists, pulling them away and placing them above her head, holding them there in one of his own. His other came to gently cup her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. "You are so beautiful…"

Lucy flushed at the look that flashed in his eyes, before hers closed with a husky moan when his lips wrapped around one of her erect nipples. His other hand trailed down the groves of her stomach, reaching to the place she wanted to be touched the most. His tongue flicked over it as he suckled her, her own hands coming to rest in his soft locks of hair. His lips followed his scorching trail, leaving pecks of warmth all over her body.

Natsu's lips broke away from her body. She watched, transfixed as his hands moved to the button of her jeans and then they were gone. His right hand moving between them to press against her most intimate spot, his other coming to cup her neck and kiss her once more. He moved his fingers gingerly against her, stroking her through her underwear, earning a moan of his name from her lips.

His lips left a sloppy trail down her neck, and he nipped at the area where her neck met her shoulder. She shivered from the cool breeze hitting the wet patches left all over her skin.

She felt his hand finally shift aside her panties and he stroked against her bare heat, his fingers covered in her juices in seconds. "Fuck, Lucy…" His voice vibrated in her ear as she felt his fingers part her lips, and a finger slide within her.

"Ah! Natsu!" Her hands gripped the sheets around her as she arched her body so her skin was pressed flush to his own bare chest. She heard a light chuckle as his skin left hers, and the next moment there was a second heat to her core. Her eyes tore open to watch as Natsu was now face to face with her most intimate place. Her legs began to close instinctively before he bent down and his tongue was rubbing against her slit.

She had never felt this kind of sensation before. Her body craved it. She craved him.

Oh god did she want _him_

Her hands left the crumbled sheets to run through his hair, yanking it hard and forcing him more against her. Natsu grinned against her, his heated eyes looking up towards the flushed face of this beautiful girl. He rubbed his tongue against her clit, sucking against it as he slowly moved his finger in and out of her. The thrusts grew quicker as he picked up her ragged breathing, adding a second finger when she began to tighten around him.

"Oh god, Natsu! Yes!" She arched her back as his fingers curled within her, and he brought his free hand up to hold down her waist. He sucked against her clit, scissoring his fingers inside her as she tightened once more against him before he felt her release.

An intense amount of pleasure raced through Lucy's veins as her entire body trembled from the force of her orgasm. Her muscles contracted around his fingers as he continued to thrust them within her to ride out her release.

She shivered when his fingers pulled out of her, and her hands gripped for his neck to pull him into a searing kiss. He pulled away, feeling her push gently against his chest. He laid back against the bed and Lucy crawled over him, her body still shaking slightly from the aftermath of her orgasm.

"You're so damn sexy, Luce…" His fingers wrapped themselves in her hair as she leaned out to press their lips together. She reached for his jeans, sliding them and his underwear down from his hips and blushing when she finally caught sight of his member. Natsu was _big_ \- she realized as she tentatively touched him. She heard his gasp as he moved to grip her hips, her hand wrapping around his hard shaft and giving it a stroke.

Her soft hands pumped him as she kissed down his neck, giving him the same treatment he had just done to her before. She knew it was torture - especially to an impatient man like Natsu, but she quickly moved down to the prize in her hand. She smiled up at Natsu, seeing his hooded eyes gazing down at her.

She licked the tip of his cock and Natsu threw back his head with a large groan leaving his lips. Lucy smirked and moved her tongue down to run along his shaft as she continued to pump him slowly. She felt his hand that was tangled in her hair move it all to one side, and grip it tightly to hold it into place. She was thankful for that - nothing worse than hair in your mouth as you give a blow job - or so told by Cana. She had never actually done something like this before, but by the grunts and shivers she was receiving from the man below her, she knew she was pleasing him well enough.

She flicked her tongue out once more to swirl around his head before taking his length slowly into her mouth. She bobbed on him experimentally, his hands beginning to move her head further down on him. Her hand worked the area she couldn't reach with her mouth and the noises coming from his mouth were so rewarding.

Lucy found herself so aroused that she trailed her free hand down her body before rubbing her still swollen nub with her fingers. She gasped against him as he thristed up into her mouth to meet her head lowering on his cock, and he hit her gag reflex. She pulled him out of her mouth before she crawled up his body, pressing their intimate parts together. She moved instinctively against him, her arousal covering his length as she bent down to press her lips against his.

"Nngh, Natsu you feel so good… I want you so badly…" She felt his fingers flex against her hip, gripping almost too tightly before she leaned back to meet his eyes. "Do you have a condom?"

He froze beneath her and his wide eyes met hers. Lucy recognized the look of fear before she was moved off of him and he was sitting on the edge of her bed, head between his hands.

"I… I can't do this Luce. This isn't a good idea…"

* * *

There was a long pause of silence, heavy breathing filling the air as Lucy sat back on her bed to stare at the toned back of Natsu. Had she heard him right…? It wasn't a good idea…?

"What do you mean you can't do this? Do you… do you not want me like that Natsu?" Lucy's chocolate eyes were down casted as she turned her body from him. She felt like an idiot - of course Natsu wouldn't want someone as inexperienced as her. He had done this multiple times, that she was sure of. He probably didn't want to deal with another girl losing her virginity to him…

Tears pricked at her eyes as she felt the bed shift and strong arms wrap themselves around her. She tried to muster up the strength to push him away, to tell him to get the hell out, but her body betrayed her as she settled deeper into his arms.

"That's not it at all Luce… It's because of me. I… I just don't feel comfortable doing that right now. I just- How do I explain this?" She felt his breath against her neck, and snuggled into him. His skin was emitting just the right amount of heat.

"I'm just not ready to have my first time be a drunken first time."

Her eyes widened as she pushed away from him to stare into his questioning eyes. "Wait a second… first time? Are you still a…?"

"Uh yeah…" He stopped to rub the back of his neck, his one arm still wrapped around her waist affectionately. "Does that bother you…?"

She let a small giggle grace her lips before a large laugh rumbled from her belly. She felt him stiffen before she leaned forward to kiss his lips before he could retort. "No silly… I think that's wonderful." She gulped before she met his eyes again. "I still hold the V-Card myself…" This got a shocked expression from Natsu and they both busted out laughing together, both thinking how silly the other was being in being worried about something like this.

After she finally calmed down, Lucy glanced back up at him. "Can I ask why though?"

"Why what?"

She rolled her eyes at him before blowing a puff of breath in his flushed face. "Why you don't want your first time to be here with me, right now, drunk off our asses as I know we both still are." She knew she was still indeed drunk, bordering on the line of tipsy and drunk, but still drunk enough to know that maybe he had a good point on waiting. "Am I… not sexy enough to you Natsu…?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him, striking the best pin up pose she could muster in this state.

Her face fell when his laugh shook the whole bed and she had to smack him on his chest to get him to shut up. "Nah, that's not it at all Luce… I've heard some rumors flying around saying that first times are supposed to be special or some shit… Just thought I would wait to have that moment with you when we are both conscious enough to actually remember something like that…"

Her heart fluttered at his words, and she smiled down at him as she crawled further into his lap. She didn't care that they were both still naked as the day they were born - their heated bodies pressed together intimately as she hugged him close. "Natsu that's… wait, with me?"

"Yeah… with you." She felt his Adam's apple bob and then his forehead was pressed against hers. "I like you Lucy. I like you a lot. I kinda see us heading in the right direction even though it's been such a short time since we really started talking."

A soft smile graced her lips as his own came to plant fluttering kisses along her nose and cheeks. "I feel the same way Natsu…"

"Good… I'm glad we are on the same page… Now could you get off me? You are kinda heavy."

"YOU BAKA! Way to ruin a moment!"

"Ouch! Hey Luce don't hit me! I was just speaking the truth!"

"By basically calling me fat!?"

"I did not say that! You have a great body and god damnit the things I would - ouch Luce! Seriously stop!"

"I was so gonna finish sucking you off but you lost that privilege now dragon boy!"

"Dragon boy? And what do you mean I lost that privilege? I'm still semi-hard over here!"

"Nope, forget it. Go to sleep. I'm done with this! And as for dragon boy don't think I didn't see the cute little dragons printed on your boxers Natsu Dragneel!"

"Ah, fuck Luce… You're no fun…" He pulled her body tight against his as he settled into her sheets beside her. "At least you're cute when you're angry."

"Baka I will make you sleep on the floor!"

"It was a compliment!"

The both of them laughed softly before finding a comfortable position in each other's arms, falling asleep with smiles on their faces.

* * *

Gray pushed off of the sweaty body below his, rolling onto his back and running his fingers through his sweaty hair. Dear god was this woman amazing. She had just gone three rounds with him, each time making him reach his climax with no external help.

He had _never_ met a woman like this before. He _almost always_ never finished during sex.

He felt her snuggle into his side and he wrapped an arm around her waist. He smirked when he felt her giggle against his chest, and his dark eyes met her beautiful blue.

"Wow… Gray-sama, Juvia has never made love like that before." He almost blanched at the nickname. He would have to somehow work her out of that… Her third person perspective though, could definitely stay.

He found that unbelievably cute.

"Wow is right Juvia… That was amazing." He smiled before kissing her temple and pulled his sheets over their naked bodies. He pressed a couple more kisses to her face, lingering on her lips a little longer before he yawned, "Wanna go for another round in the morning?"

"Juvia would appreciate it if she could shower before another round."

"Shower sex it is then."

He had one thought on his mind before he slipped into a blissful sleep - he just hoped that pink haired idiot had finally gotten laid.

* * *

 **Hope you all liked it! It was challenging to write this all, but I had help from Mason and she is the smut queen. HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!**

 **Please please please, Read and Review! Helps to know what you like and what all you want from this story! Happy to write to please!~**


	9. Chapter 9: Fate's Intertwined

**Finally a new chapter. Thanks to all those who gave reviews/favorites/etc.! It really does help to keep me motivated to write.  
Many more cute NaLu moments, some more funny Natsu vs Gray, and a serious tone towards the end~ Let me know what you all think and review please!~**

* * *

 **The Social Grace of Tindering**

 **Chapter 9: Fate's Intertwined**

* * *

The late morning sunlight filtered through the room reached the corners of the bed, casting its rays onto the two intertwined forms. Natsu groaned, placing his one free arm over his eyes to block the light, and to ease the pounding headache forming between his temples. "What time is it…?" He rolled over, placing his arm back over the waist of the still sleeping girl next to him. He glanced up at the alarm clock on her nightstand, grunting at the big red letters of 8:35 AM glaring back at him.

Lucy shuffled next to him, turning to face away from him, drawing his eyes to the marks that littered her neck and shoulders. His fingers trailed along the bite mark left on her shoulder blade. He bent down to grace smooth kisses along the reddened skin, and trailed up to just below her ear. She stirred more before her chocolate eyes slowly opened. Her eyes caught a hold of him before a small smile formed on her face.

"Hi Natsu…"

"Hey Luce." A smirk played along in his voice. "How'd you sleep?"

"I was having a nice dream, but I wouldn't mind being woken up like that everyday…" She hummed as he continued to trail kisses all along her exposed back. "Why are you up so early anyway…? You seem like the type to sleep in."

"I'm normally up before the sun rises to actually go running." He shrugged and snuggled under the covers to wrap his arms fully around her. "Surprise, surprise." He chuckled as he buried his nose into her hair. "What we doin' today?"

"First things first, I am heading to the bathroom, so I'll be right back." She sat up, stretching her arms above her head, giving Natsu a _very_ nice view of her curvy form. His eyes followed the movements of her muscles as she turned around to smirk at him.

"You like what you see?"

A large grin formed on his face as he winked at her. "You know I do babe."

"Good, cause now you get to watch me walk away, _babe_." She emphasized the last word with a wink of her own before grabbing her robe and skipping out of the room, dark green eyes following her form the whole way.

Natsu laid back into bed, staring at the ceiling before feeling a slight vibration beneath him. Cocking an eyebrow, he rolled to the side and found a pink covered phone. He laughed as he saw multiple notifications from Snapchat, Twitter, texts from Levy, Erza and even Cana all begging or cheering her on from last night, and one from Tinder. He shrugged as his shoulders as he was about to place the phone back down before it buzzed again, and he glanced at the screen.

In the newest banner to appear on the screen was a simple message saying, 'You have matched with Gray!' His eyes widened as he sat up in the bed and looked around the room to make sure Lucy wasn't seeing this before his finger swiped to open the phone. To his amazement, Lucy didn't have a passcode on the phone.

"Shit, you make this too easy Luce…" He chuckled as he opened the Tinder app and his fingers flexed through the multiple matches. "Now let's see…"

His eyes roamed through the multiple matches before his eyebrows raised once more. "Seriously… Loke? You matched with Loke? What the hell did he say to my girl…?" He looked through the conversation, holding back a snort at the multiple _unanswered_ messages.

' _Hey babe, I'm a Leo and I think I'm the perfect match for you. ;)'_

' _Are you the date? Because you're a 10/10. ;)'_

' _Are you my appendix? Because I don't understand how you work but this feeling in my stomach makes me want to take you out. ;)'_

' _I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together. ;)'_

' _I seem to have lost my phone number. Can I have yours? ;)'_

' _Are you a parking ticket? 'Cause you've got fine written all over you. ;)'_

Clearly after the last few unanswered messages he eventually gave up, but it was still hilarious to see him trying so hard. Natsu laughed before taking a screenshot of the conversation and sending it to his own phone. He then scrolled once more before stopping at the very top, where all of her recent matches were, and clicked on the one that said, 'Gray'.

He placed a hand on his chin, thinking hard before shrugging and sending a simple 'Hey there!' with an emoji attached at the end. That seemed 'Lucy' enough judging by the few messages she and him had shared between themselves. He waited a bit, scrolling through and laughing at some of the other messages Lucy had received from matches.

"What the hell Luce, you even matched with Gajeel?"

"How did you know that…?"

Natsu froze as he glanced up from the phone to peer at Lucy's blushing face. His cheeks began to grow red as he hid the phone behind his back. "Uh, well… no reason."

"Natsu Dragneel… Did you go through my phone?"

"No. Nope. Not at all. Why would you think that?"

"Let me see your hands…"

"They are a little busy right now, try again later…"

"Natsu! Give me my phone!"

"Sorry Luce, please leave a message after the beep-!" Lucy ran forward and tackled Natsu to the bed, her arms snaking around his body to go for the phone beneath him.

"Come on Natsu… give me the phone!" She reached under his body, going for the light pink covered case before her body was suddenly in the air. She let out a small 'eep!' before she landed on her cushioned bed and under a heavy, warm body. Natsu snickered above her, his back pressing her down into the mattress as he held the phone high above their heads.

"But Luce this is prime time to mess with Gray right now… He's been seeing a girl more than once… More than once! This is a huge deal. He never does this… and it's time I finally get him to admit to it…" His fingers worked on the screen, begging for him to respond.

"Natsu! Stop it! Gray's going to get the wrong idea!" She huffed out as she pushed against his broad shoulders, her fingers taking in the strong tone before she hit his head softly. "Seriously! He won't answer-"

They both froze as a small ding filled the room and Natsu's laugh boasted out. "A-ha! See, told you Luce! He totally responded. This is our chance!"

"Natsu this is totally not a good idea! What will he think of me!?"

"Gray's not the type to care about these type of things. He will probably flirt back but not much more. Please Luce! This is my chance to get him to admit his feelings!"

"They have literally seen each other, slept together, whatever, maybe more than twice! That's not that big of a deal."

"No Luce, this is a huge deal for Gray. He doesn't do this with girls. The only girl he saw twice is Cana and that's 'cause it was a friends with benefits deal. He doesn't like to get involved with girls." Natsu chuckled as his fingers typed away another message to the now talkative Gray. "Let me do this Luce… I'll pay you back!"

"How will you do that…?"

"You tell me what you want, and I'll give it to you."

"Alright then… Let me think about it but let me up so I can go shower!"

He shook his head as he let out a loud laugh. "No way am I falling for that. You aren't leaving this spot until I'm done with this." He turned to look over his shoulder, his grin splitting his face and she couldn't help but to giggle back. "Besides, you smell like me right now and I'm totally digging it."

"Natsu! That's a little… weird!?" She let out a small squeak as he suddenly flung her phone to the ground and she was perfectly pinned beneath him. His warm body pressed against hers to cause a shuddering breath leave her lips. His eyes locked onto her lips before a smirk pressed his own.

"I think you'll be fine for a little longer…" He leaned down and gave her a kiss, pulling up after just beginning to mold them together. She followed him up, but her pinned body kept them just the right distance apart that drove her wild. His eyes locked onto hers, a playful glint showing within them as he raised an eyebrow. "You want something?"

"Yeah…" Her hands tugged loose and locked around his neck pulling him forward. "You."

She kissed him with a passion that stole his breath away as he kissed her back, his hands trailing over her unclad body, fingers digging into her skin to leave light marks.

They kissed for a while, never feeling the need to press further like they did the night before. They were content just to have their bodies molded together, their lips touching in just the right way to ease away their headaches from the night of drinking.

"Hmm…" She gave him another lazy kiss, her fingers gently kneading through his hair. "I really gotta go shower now…" She gave him another, and another before pulling away, his lips trailing down her already marked neck. "You wanna join me?"

"Can't you just stay here…?" He lifted up his head to admire his work on her neck before nuzzling back down into the bed, his head resting on her chest. "I'm comfortable here."

"Yeah, but I was planning on going to the library to get some work done today with Levy. I have to get out of bed and back into society sometime." She giggled at the pout on his face before moving to get up. "I'll be right back, you just stay here and stay cozy." She smiled over her shoulder before bending down and picking up his shirt from last night. He raised an eyebrow but didn't press any questions.

He watched her walk out of the room and shut the door before sitting up and reaching over the bed to grab the forgotten phone from before.

"Now let's see if I can make this fucker squeal…"

* * *

"Soooo…" Lucy dragged on, twirling around teasingly as she buttoned up the large shirt. "What exactly are we…?" She moved over to glance at herself in the mirror, smiling as she watched Natsu's smug face light up at seeing her wearing his shirt. She did look good in it… She moved over to the bed, drawing her knees around his thighs and straddling his waist before putting her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. "You never did answer my question."

Natsu let out a sigh before a large smile formed on his face, his hands placing themselves on her hips. "I'm more of an old fashioned guy… I really only pursue one person when I am interested… You just happen to be my victim."

"Oh ho ho… so the big bad dragon has come to take his claim on the princess then?" Lucy smirked as she moved her hand up into his bedridden hair. "Am I your prisoner…?" Her face formed a smirk as she watched his Adam's Apple bob up and down, her breath ghosting over his skin to form goosebumps along his body. Her nose trailed up his neck before leaning in to gently bite his earlobe. "What are you going to make me do… Master?"

"Ah… Lu-Luce… Come on." He gripped her hips tighter before pulling back away. "Your… Ahem, _Master_ , can't handle this kind of roleplay at the moment." He raised his eyebrows to try and give her a stern look. "I won't be able to stop myself if we continue to play this game."

"Fine, but you're no fun…" She huffed and pulled away from him, hearing Natsu sigh and get up after her. "Besides, I gotta kick you out anyway to head to the library with Levy. I don't want to be there all day."

Natsu glanced around the room, grabbing certain articles of clothing before stopping before Lucy and raising an eyebrow at her. "One, who does homework. I'd say skip that and come watch movies with me in bed all day… and two." His fingers moved to the first button on his large shirt that still covered her body. "I need my shirt back so I can head home and have some type of dignity left with all the marks you left on me."

He smirked as her face lit up in a light blush and leaned down to grace his lips over her own newly marked neck, his fingers unbuttoning the shirt slowly. "I'll keep doing this and then you really won't be able to get rid of me." He chuckled as she pushed him away and turned around to throw off the shirt and onto his head. He fell back onto the bed, trying to control his blush by hiding it under his arm as he realized she wasn't wearing anything under that shirt.

"When I finish my homework, I'll text you about coming over for a movie night… okay?"

Natsu slowly removed his arm to look at her, seeing her smirking his way. He smiled brightly before nodding. "Aye, aye capt'n! I'll bring over my best horror films!"

"Hell no! I am not watching any gory or horror shit films. I'll be scared all night!"

"But Luuce come on! We are so close to Halloween and it's the perfect time to be cuddling and scared together." The look she gave him made his mouth shut tight.

"Natsu Dragneel, it's my room so that means my movie choices. Deal?"

"Fine, but I get to pick the snacks and next time it's at my place."

"Oh so there will be a next time huh?"

"Well of course! I don't have a TV in my room but I do have my computer and Netflix." He wiggled his eyebrows towards her as she half heartedly glared his way.

"Are you asking me to Netflix and Chill with you?"

"I was just planning on having a Netflix with you, but since you brought up the chill part, I am totally down." He stood up and pulled her towards him to place a kiss on her lips just as she smacked him playfully on the chest.

He playfully acted hurt as she giggled and finished buttoning her own shirt. "Alright fine. Now come on, let's get you out of here."

"Alright, fine. I'm meeting up with Gray anyway for the glorious walk of shame." He snorted and glanced over at her as another giggle escaped her lips. He really liked to hear her laugh.

They both exit her room just as Natsu finished with his shirt and scarf, running into the scarlet haired beauty leaving her own room down the hall. Natsu froze seeing Erza giving him a once over. Sweat began to pour from his forehead as Lucy stalled in her decent down the stairs to stare at the two. Erza's straight face slowly morphed into one of pride and gave him a thumbs up.

Natsu leaned back against the wall as Erza passed, patting his head as she went through the hallway and down the stairs. He breathed out of breath he didn't realize he was holding and shakingly walked towards Lucy. "I thought for sure… She was going to kill me."

"Why would she do that?"

"Luce, this is Erza we are talking about… She would kill me if she knew I did anything to hurt you in any type of way."

Lucy smiled before taking his large hand in her own. "Well… I'm happy, so I don't think she will ever hurt you unless I tell her too." She smiled up at him, leaving Natsu stunned before dragging him along down the stairs.

Levy glanced up from the book she was reading to the stair case. Her eyes widened as she took in Natsu's look - flushed cheeks, tousled bedhead, and his shirt wrinkled with Lucy looking perfectly in order as always. She watched them quietly from the couch as Lucy walked him to the door, opening it up and smiling up at him as he stepped onto the front porch. Natsu leaned down to press his lips against Lucy's, Levy glancing away quickly to cover her eyes from the slight intimate moment between the two of them. She didn't look back up until she heard the door close, seeing Lucy with a small smile on her face, leaning against the door.

"Lu-chan you better tell me everything right now!"

* * *

Natsu stopped at the corner of the street and smirked as he watched a shirtless Gray clumsily walk across the street, narrowly avoiding a car who wasn't too keen on waiting for his slow ass to finally cross. He snorted as he watched the dark haired male throw up two middle fingers to flick off the driver then replaced his scowl with his own smirk as he spotted Natsu.

"Hey."

"Yo."

They both turned the corner and headed down the street towards their own house. Gray pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it and then grinning towards Natsu. "Hey man… Proud of you." He smacked his shoulder, causing the other male to stumble slightly and grumble towards him. "What's the problem? You should be filled with the essence of pure bliss after the fun night you must have had with Lucy man."

"Uh yeah, about that…"

Gray stopped, taking a particularly large drag on the cigarette as his eyes narrowed towards Natsu. "Don't you dare tell me you guys didn't actually do it."

"Alright then, I won't tell you."

"The fuck man!? Why the hell not!?"

Natsu growled and looked towards Gray. "I'm not going to let Lucy's first time or even mine for that matter be a drunken first time. This is something I actually want to remember… Unlike you, you filthy hooker-princess."

Gray pointed a finger in Natsu's face. "Watch it man."

Natsu snorted before continuing forward, his shoulders slumping from the awkward tension between the two of them now. He glanced over at Gray and watched as he put out the cigarette.

"So uh… Wanna race home?"

Gray smirked and pushed Natsu into a nearby bush before taking off down the street. Natsu screaming profanities as he ran after Gray, catching up to him and the two stumbled into their front yard as he tackled Gray to the ground. Loke just happened to be getting home himself, getting caught up in the small tussle and taken down the ground as well.

"Why must you two always ruin my most peaceful moments!? I was just reminiscing about my wonderful night with the most beautiful lady I have ever laid eyes on…" Natsu and Gray tuned him out and continuing their small brawl before Natsu was grabbed and promptly had his hair stroked by Loke.

"Her hair was much softer than yours… Soft, and fluffy like a gentle lamb… But the color, yes the color is nearly the same!"

Natsu deadpanned before slowly turning around to glare at Loke as Gray bellowed out in laughter.

"DUDE!" was the only warning Loke got before he was punched in the face and into the front door.

"You're next popsicle!"

The front door slowly opened to a still very sleepy looking Elfman, his eyes widening to life as he took in the state of the front yard as Natsu and Gray laughed with the other still trying to get to the front door.

Elfman charged forwards yelling out, "MAN!" before joining the wrestling match between the two other males. Loke stayed against the siding of the house, rubbing his cheek where Natsu had just punched him before shrinking away from the large form that appeared in the doorway.

"What the fuck are you all doing?"

The boys froze in their spots, each too afraid to turn their heads towards the doorway in fear of the large blonde male who made himself known. Both Natsu's and Gray's hands were preoccupied by pulling at each other's hair and mouth while their own faces were being pushed into Elfman's abdomen. Elfman had his arms tightly locked around both their heads, pulling them both into his large form to slowly choke them into submission.

The front yard was like a silent graveyard as the seconds ticked by in silence.

"I asked a fucking question you imbeciles. Break up the damn fight and get inside. Mirajane has food prepared and I don't want it to get cold." Laxus turned away from them, stepping back inside and offering the giggling Mirajane a gentle, but small smile before making his way towards the kitchen.

A chorus of "Aye!", "Yes sir!", and "Like a Man!" followed him in as the rest stumbled into the house and grabbed their choice of food that covered the kitchen counter.

* * *

Natsu flopped onto his bed, freshly showered and changed for his night over at Lucy's. He was wearing simple, charcoal gray sweatpants that were loose at the top and fitted towards the bottom with a black long-sleeve shirt, his white signature scarf, and white Vans. His sweatshirt laid out on bed as he used it as a makeshift pillow. He pulled his phone out from under him, checking the cracked screen periodically for Lucy's text to tell him it was okay to head on over.

He wasn't a very patient man, but he was ready to watch some good movies with the girl of his dreams. Swinging off the bed, he grabbed his snack filled backpack and headed towards his mini fridge in the corner. Taking out a couple of bottles of beer and a bottle of wine, he set them inside the bag carefully and moved out of his room into the hallway. Turning away from his now locked door, he noticed Gray leaning against his own doorframe smirking towards him.

"What do you want stripper?"

"Just thought you could use a little help you know? Maybe for later tonight?" Gray wiggled his eyebrows towards the pinkette, causing Natsu to raise his own in question.

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

Gray moved forward, taking something out of his pockets and pulling Natsu's hand foward to drop them into his palm. Natsu's eyes widened at the multiple condom packets and tried to jerk his hand away from the other's.

"Chill flame brain. They are just for precaution you know?"

"Gray I don't need these fucking things yet. I told you-"

"And I'm telling you that you can never be too careful you shitface. Just take them for fuck's sake. I've got plenty."

Natsu growled before glancing back down at the condoms, mumbling to himself before taking out his wallet and stuffing them in there. "Yeah, yeah… whatever. Can never be too careful… fucking asshole." He nastily imitated the retreating form of Gray and chucked one of the condoms that wouldn't fit into his wallet at Gray's head. "I'm not like you fucker!"

Hearing Gray's laughter from within his room pissed Natsu even more as he moved down the hallway and towards the staircase, barely hearing the call back of, "You'll thank me later!"

* * *

Natsu knocked on the front door of the house before opening up the door and stepping in. He glanced around the front room to see Gajeel and Levy on the couch looking over some book. Gajeel seemed to be heavily focused before glancing towards Natsu.

"Gajeel that face doesn't suit you. I've never seen you so…" Natsu paused at the glare Gajeel sent his way before smiled towards Levy. "Focused before. Glad you found someone to help you with your studies." He snickered as Levy giggled and Gajeel scowled. "Anyway, have fun. Luce up in her room?"

"Yeah, Lu-chan's been waiting for you! So gone on ahead." Levy smiled his way before making Gajeel focus in on the book once more.

Natsu trudged up the stairs, and knocked on Lucy's bedroom door before hearing a small, "come in" in reply. He opened the door and smiled at Lucy who had just finished with something on her nightstand. "Hey Luce."

"Hey Natsu… What you think?" She giggled as she motioned around the room at her decorating process. She had the lights off, curtains drawn, and the only source of light coming from the hanging icicle Christmas lights hung up around the whole perimeter of the room. A Keurig in the corner on her desk that was brewing something that smelled like hot chocolate, a bowl for his own snacks on the bed and her computer hooked up to her small TV that had been moved closer to the bed.

"Is this the homework you were talking about? I almost feel like I'm getting ready for Christmas with the atmosphere you have set." He laughed at her pouting look before stepping into the room, closing the door behind him and setting down his bag. He walked towards her, pulling her against him and placing a gentle kiss to the crown of her head. "I like it. Thanks for having me over."

"Of course! So I was thinking we could start off with The Nightmare Before Christmas, because well… It's totally one of my favorite movies of all time. So I hope that's okay?" She seemed to be a rambling, nervous mess before Natsu pulled her back towards him and kissed her lips with a little more pressure than their normal gentle touches.

"Luce… It's wonderful… But…" He looked away causing Lucy to begin to fidget.

"B-But…?"

"It'll be perfect as long as we can watch Hocus Pocus next." That earned him a half-hearted smack to the chest.

"Of course we'll watch Hocus Pocus! I wouldn't be a true Disney fan without those traditional movies they have played all our lives!" She laughed as he twirled her around before stepping out of the warm embrace and pulling the two mugs of hot chocolate out and adding Bailey's to the mixture.

"Damn Luceh… You are so my girl." He laughed as he made sure to tip her hand a bit higher to add more alcohol to his mug. "Bailey's and hot chocolate is the dream. Thanks Luce." He took his mug and moved towards the bed, leaving enough room for Lucy to settle herself in next to him after she started the movie.

Setting down his hot chocolate on the bedside table, he moved to wrap his arm around Lucy's shoulders before pulling away to take out his wallet. "This thing is too uncomfortable to sit on…" Attempting to throw it somewhere on the floor, Lucy snatched it from his hands. He sat frozen and watched as she opened the wallet, her eyes locking on the not so hidden condoms placed haphazardly in one of the pockets.

"Uh… Luce, I can uh… Explain?" Natsu gulped heavily as her face seemed to grow sad and he moved to sit in front of her. "Hey Luce really… Gray gave me these as a 'precaution'.. You know as a joke-?" He stopped as he watched tears fill her eyes and his own widened. "Lu-Luce why are you crying!? I didn't mean to upset you!?" He scrambled around as Lucy leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"Uh… Luce? Can you say something… I'm so fricken confused right now…"

"Oh Natsu… I'm so sorry…"

He raised an eyebrow, glancing down at her before his eyes locked onto the folded up piece of paper clenched in her fingers. "Luce is that-?"

"I had completely forgotten about this… You must be going through such a hard time right now…"

Natsu grew quiet, taking the folded piece of paper from her hand and opening it up to glance at the harsh words written on the page. "I'm guessing you somehow read it…?"

She nodded, tightening her arms around his torso. "I read it the day we stole the stuff from your guys' house… I'm so sorry." Natsu could feel the front of his shirt getting wet and sighed as he ran his free hand through his hair before settling it onto the small of her back.

"Lucy… You don't have to be sorry. I was eventually going to tell you."

She glanced up at him, smiling softly as he wiped away the stray tears from her eyes. "R-Really?"

"Yeah. I think I want to tell someone anyway." He looked over the large bill and statement from the folded letter, his fingers gripping the end of it tightly, crumbling it up like it had been many times before.

He pulled his wallet out from her lap and pulled out the picture placed in the laminated folds of the wallet. "This here is a picture of my very… interesting family." He flipped through the packet pointing to certain faces. "This here is my adoptive father Igneel. Here is my biological older-brother Zeref and his wife Mavis." Flipping to the next few he smiled softly at a picture of four people. "This was taken right at the start of summer, around my birthday I think. There's Igneel, Zeref and I in the back. This is Wendy, my step-sister and her mother, my step-mom, Grandeeney. Our family is disjointed in many ways, but we make it work." Flipping to the last two, one was of Igneel and Natsu, the one in his Tinder profile and the last one of a very large group. Lucy spotted multiple familiar faces. Sting and Rogue next to two older male individuals who were clearly together. Gajeel and a brute looking male next to him with both their arms across their chests. Natsu, Igneel, Wendy and Grandeeney were pictured right in the middle of all the chaos.

Her smile grew larger with each picture, her eyes lingering on the last one the longest. She looked up to see tears gathered in Natsu's own eyes and she gasped lightly, moving forward to pull his body against hers. "You okay Natsu…?"

"I'll be alright… Just, they all know about my dad, like you do… But they don't know the full extent of it all." He gulped and pressed his lips against her temple. "Since you've read the letter… You know that my dad's in a coma right now…"

She nodded, not wanting to interrupt him, and held his body tighter as he began to shake and take in deep breaths.

"He… He was involved in a terrible accident right before I came back to school… That's why I was gone the first few weeks of class… He was on the verge of death multiple times, and the doctors can't really tell if he will ever wake up or not… And-" He stopped to take in a shaky breath, his arms wrapping slowly around Lucy. "The hospital bills are growing, and it's hard to constantly get the letters with updates on his condition that never changes with the bills attached at the end... and focus on school all at the same time. I'm lucky enough to be on a full-ride to college with my hockey talent but… The pricing of everything… It's becoming too much… And knowing that my father's future is so up in the air right now is tearin me apart and I just-" His voice cracked and tears fell from his eyes as he placed his face into Lucy's shoulder.

"Sometimes I don't know what I should do Luce… Do I go home and take care of him…? Be there for Wendy and Grandeeney? Do I leave school and focus on working to make money to pay for his continued treatments and bills…? Do I… What do I do…?"

"Shhhh.. Natsu it's okay… I'm here for you." She rubbed her hand up and down his back, the other going to his head to softly thread her fingers through his thick hair. "You'll get through this. Your father will pull through… I know he will. You have this large wonderful family to back you up."

She felt a small smile on his face form and she pulled his chin upwards to kiss him softly. "Besides… You got me now too, and you can push anything on me and I'll take it all in stride."

"Promise…?"

"Promise, with all my heart." She grinned at him as he leaned forward and pressed their lips back together. The kiss grew heavy as Lucy pushed Natsu back onto the bed, the sounds of the movie fading into the background as they continued to join their lips together. His hands roamed over her sides, her own gently tugging at his hair and helping her to stay hovering above him. Their legs entangled as Natsu pulled her body flush against his, his lips trailing over her neck and up to her ear.

"Thanks Luce… Just, thanks for being here for me and coming into my life when I needed you most." His lips joined with hers before she smiled above him, touching their foreheads lightly.

"I'm planning on staying awhile, so you can count on me being here."

His grin made butterflies fly through her system.

"Same goes for me. I have the most fun when we are together."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!~**


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